Wayne Stevens
I'm one of Brian's many many Facebook friends. And the news I learned on Sunday stunned me more than words can express. But I'll make a feeble attempt… Like Brian, I am an alum of Spring Valley Elementary, Northwood Jr. High, and attended RHS for one year before moving. I really didn't know Brian then, as he was a year ahead of me. But I knew his name, and inherited at least one of his former schoolbooks over the years. Fast-forward to February 2009. I hadn't been on Facebook for very long, and spent a lot of time on some of the old school pages. Especially one called "Richardson Eagles Yesteryear Trivia". There were a lot of posts by Brian there, I noticed. I have always had a mind for the trivial, so I also left numerous posts, asking and answering questions. It was a lot of fun. Before long, I received a friend request from Brian Barnaud. I was a little surprised, as we hadn't really known each other. But I accepted the request, and man was I glad I did. Though we were clearly different in many ways, I much appreciated his kind attitude and his quirky wit. Over the last five or six months, one or the other of us would get in touch via FB somewhat frequently, usually relating to something minor and unimportant. And I was always struck by his concern and compassion. He expressed worry over the condition of Walter Cronkite just a few weeks before he passed. And, just by happenstance, it was from me that he learned of the death of Mr. Cronkite, whom he had once met and admired greatly. When it came to matters concerning space, Brian was like a kid in a candy store (or whatever kind of store kids really love these days). He was a space junkie. I am not, but Brian's enthusiasm was contagious. We spent a lot of time a week ago talking about the Apollo 11 mission of forty years prior, and he gave me a link to a NASA "real-time" radio stream of the entire mission. I listened as Armstrong and Aldrin set foot on the moon for the first time, and was much more captivated by it than I was when it actually happened (when I was five). And I was very thankful that Brian had given me that link. He even offered to burn and send a DVD to me of something that was on the Discovery Channel about it, as I had mentioned to him that I don't have cable. When I told him he absolutely didn't have to do that, he replied "But that's what I do! I'm making them for lots of people." I never heard from Brian after last weekend though. I thought "well, maybe he's mad because I've been posting on a Texas GOP Facebook page". Actually, I didn't worry about it much…I knew that Brian wasn't the type of guy to hold a grudge over something like that. Then on Sunday morning, a message from a mutual friend to Brian appeared on my Facebook "newsfeed". I was puzzled…it almost resembled an obituary or something. So I went to Brian's profile… That was more than twelve hours ago, but the shock has not even begun to wear off yet. We mere mortals aren't supposed to know why God allows things like this to happen. I know I sure as hell don't understand. But I know I will greatly miss Brian Barnaud, and will cherish the memory of our too-brief friendship and his generous, giving spirit. Brian's family doesn't need me or anyone else to tell them what a fine and decent guy he was. I just pray that his mother, his sister,(other siblings if there are any) and everyone else who loved Brian can have some measure of peace and solace in the knowledge that many, many other people loved him too and thought the world of him. Even folks like me, whose lives he just touched on the periphery. Many people are remembered at the time of their passing from this earth as one of a kind. Unlike many of them however, Brian Barnaud really was. Godspeed and God Bless you, my friend.