The Teller of Tales...

The call we've been dreading came yesterday.

"He's gone."

With him went an entire world. Not just memories of my Dad and the stories we hadn't heard. You have never met a person quite like Warren Quinlan. Teller of tales. Weaver of magic. A walking idea generator. Stories so magical and told so well, you knew they had to be made up and yet he convinced you they were true. Oh, The Stories.

When my Dad died in 2012, on his phone he had listed, Warren (known to my family as, "Uncle Warren") not by name but by, "Best Friend." That's how he'll always be remembered to me. Uncle Warren told me he made sculptures and that one time he showed them to my Dad. My Dad didn't have much of an interest in art but if you were happy, he was happy. Warren asked my Dad what he thought. He said my father just stood there and said, "whatever makes you happy, friend," my Dad said with his trademark smile on his face. Warren thought his reaction was funny and shared this story with me. I thought it was typical of how they both respected and appreciated each other.

My Dad was with Warren at the IA in Southie when he met my Mom. Warren and my Dad asked the waitress if there were any good looking women in the restaurant. The waitress pointed at my Mom and her friend. Well, the rest is history. My Dad and my Mom became a couple and Warren was again cemented into the history of my family.

Here's my Dad and Warren's daughter Emily. (Both gone now. Both loved and missed so much.)

A few months after my Dad died, Warren left me a voicemail. I wondered why he had called. He said he was, "Coming over soon and that we'd go to the toy store and then for ice cream." He was talking like you would to a little kid. I cracked up when I realized he had accidentally called me instead of his granddaughter. I called him back and asked him what flight he was arriving on. Phones and Warren didn't get along but if you were face to face, he could keep you enthralled for hours with his stories and ideas. Ideas about helping people and making the world a better place. 

The last time we saw him, he took Tristan and I around Harvard. He walked in and out of buildings like he owned the place.  He took us all over campus, posed for photos and told us stories. He had an idea for an app. An app that involved free education and helping to improve the lives of children. He wanted David and Tristan's help developing it. He was so excited to tell me about it. I was excited over his excitement. That's the way it worked with him.

The world was made a better place just by knowing that he was in it. Now he's gone. I promised him last week that whenever I thought of him, my heart would grow big like the Grinch and I'd get a big goofy smile on my face. It's always what's happened when Warren pops into my head. It's probably what happens to most of us who knew him.  

We'll smile and laugh and we'll forever carry his stories with us. 

Thanks, Uncle Warren, for being our Dad's forever best friend. We love you and will miss you. Always. 

-Kelly and Erin