|
| |
January 28, 1970 - March 31,
1997
"Thabo Khali Khali"
PCV Lesotho 1995-1997
Seeds
I used to fear the wind
for I knew my soul to be
a dandelion
which Tsunami Time
could
separate
and
scatter
in an instant
but now, alone, as
daylight dies
engulfed by growing green
I see the wind
I hear the wind
I feel the wind
approaching;
I welcome it.
I am become dispersed
transformed,
each section of my soul
each moment, each memory
is a seed
which might fly through
the air
and tumble on the ground
then try to lay down roots
to someday bloom
and face the summer sun
perhaps my souls
can find more peace
apart
than they ever could
together when crowded within me.
~Jeremy Rolfs, 1994
Thabo Khali Khali
“Thabo
khali khali”
the village children
named you, meaning
“airplane of
happiness”
when they saw you
leaping
and playing and
running
in the grassy fields
and hills,
the comical pointy
straw hat
bouncing on your
back,
your thick wavy hair
falling forward, the
gift
of your new native
blanket
pinned round your
shoulders,
your long arms wildly
waving,
the blanket flapping
like wings.
The older girls, shy,
stood
giggling near the
house,
the younger children
all
shouting and
pointing,
irrepressible
laughter bursting
from great toothy
grins
in wide-eyed dark
faces,
running around
and up and down with
you
in joyous exuberant
circles
calling out
your new name.
I can picture it
perfectly.
Oh let this image
stay with me, help me
remember you like
this
when the world goes
black
and I sink into
bitterness
and rage thinking of
all
the laughter, the
joy,
the fun, the
friendships,
the fulfillment of
completed work,
the pleasures of the
body,
the children you
didn’t get to have,
the growing and
loving
you didn’t get to
know.
Then let this be
enough:
A child’s voice,
laughing,
Calling out of the
darkness to me
Look! Thabo Khali
Khali!
~Alma Rolfs
One of Jeremy's teachers began the
Jeremy Rolfs Memorial Scholarship Fund
at Middle Tennessee State University.
To contribute, contact:
PO Box 109
Murfreesboro,
Tennessee, 37132
Read additional poems written by Jeremy's mother, Alma
Rolfs:
Preface
Through Your
Eyes
Bungi Jump
Carp Diem
The
Rescue
Walking
Jeremy, In Others' Words...
Name: Joe Endsley
Email:
Date: 06 Nov 2007
I only knew Jeremy Rolfs briefly. We had a class together at MTSU for a
semester. However, it was long enough for me to know that this was a man who was
going to make an impact. I was so sure of this, in fact, that 18 years later, I
not only remembered the name, but took the time to search the internet to see if
I could find out what became of him. It's clear from the comments that I was
right. He did make an impact.
Joe Endsley
Oak Ridge, TN
Name: Bart Thau
Date: 08 Oct 2007
Jeremy and I were friends starting at MTSU until his death. He and I made some
crazy fun productions at MTSU, and shared a love for music, fun, B-movies, and
the Simpsons. He taped every one and gave me a copy. I still have 3/4" tapes of
our senior year productions. There was nothing we thought we cound't do
together. He was the craziest most sincere person I have ever met. He was
spiritual, irreverant, loving, and offensive, all in the same breath. My mom, a
very very conservative Southern woman, found the beauty in Jeremy's soul the
first time she met him. He was with me at my first wedding. I was with him the
morning after Heather's murder at the hospital in Marietta. Tracy called me from
the NEWS 4 newsroom and said...watch the feed...I think it's Jeremy. Sadly, it
was. We laughed, cried, and wondered why god had allowed this to happen.
I hugged him at her funeral, and walked with him through the subsequent police
interviews as they grasped at straws trying to see if Jeremy had any
involvement. It was crazy. Then, he found hope in the peace corps. As I was
going through my own personal hell, after my wife commited suicide...I received
a letter from his mom telling me after the fact of his untimely death in Africa.
I love Jeremy. He's alive again. His soul is free from the pain that this world
brought him. He introduced me to Vonnegut, Felix the Cat (the 60's version), and
TOPAZ the dog. If you knew Jeremy you'll know what I mean.
I love you Jeremy...Peace be with you now.
-Bart
Name: Shawn Davie
Email: Shawn1965@aol.com
Date: 31 Mar 2007
I just got in from jogging and realized that today is ten years since Jeremy died.
He and I philosophized many times about what happens when you die...
I actually just "talked" to him for the first time I can remember since then.
I could really use some of that damn industry that he was so imbued with. If there is any still out here floating around, I could use some.
Jeremy was the most un-lazy person I have ever known. I still love ya Jer.. of course
Name: Teressia Zack
Email: t.wardzack@comcast.net
Date: 17 February 2006
I
find myself in shock as I write, not really knowing what happened to my friend
until now. Jeremy is really gone? NO!
I had heard rumors, but no one in my circle could confirm for me where Jeremy
disappeared to after Heather's murder and Jeremy's fight for life. He
disappeared and I haven't heard from him since. Today, however, Jeremy was on my
mind and I "Googled" his name. Now, I know. My friend is gone. God love him.
I've read his mother's poems and was especially touched by "Walking", which
tells "the rest of the story". Thank you, momma Rolfs, for sharing your story,
your love and your pain.
I want to share a few things about Jeremy, too.
We attended MTSU together and worked at the student-run TV station together. I
was also a DJ at the time at the jazz station on campus. Matter of fact, I'm the
one that introduced Jeremy to Heather. Heather and I were DJ's together and
Jeremy was involved in the TV productions with me. It wasn't until Heather and I
were talking one day that I found out they were interested in each other, so the
first date was made and, well, the rest is history.
Jeremy had a lovely old dog named Topaz that I just adored! She looked like a
blonde lab and was chock full of love! As a matter of fact, Topaz ran out the
door one day while Jeremy was gone to visit his folks (his roommate couldn't
catch her fast enough) and she became "with child". Being an old dog, I was
worried about her giving birth. Just about the time she was due, I was having
back problems (surgery was scheduled) and was bed-ridden. One early morning, I
received a phone call from Jeremy pleading with me to come. As fast as I could,
I drove the few blocks to Jeremy's house. Topaz had already given birth to
several puppies that didn't make it, and was in the process of delivering
more....on Jeremy's bed! We laughed and cried together while we wiped the live
puppies clean, rubbing their little fat tummies and listening to them yelp, and
showed Topaz her offspring. They were black labs. Beautiful, squirming, tiny
black labs. I loved them all! I helped Jeremy bury the puppies that hadn't
survived the birth, and we cried some more. Jeremy had all kinds of questions
about how to take care of puppies, which I was happy to help him with (My
experience with dogs comes from living on a farm and seeing all my animals give
birth at one time or another.) as long as he promised to let me have the runt of
the litter. Jeremy smiled and asked me why. I told him that I always pull for
the underdog. I want to help where I'm most needed and, most times, I feel like
everyone is against me. I knew I could make a difference in that tiny little
life, just so long as Jeremy said she was mine. Her brothers and sisters didn't
like to share mommy Topaz with her, but I taught Jeremy how to make sure all of
them had enough to eat. One day we videotaped Topaz and her puppies for a TV
show I was producing called "Void Where Prohibited". Jeremy provided the "voice"
of Topaz and a few others from my TV show provided the voices for the puppies.
Puppies: "I want the chocolate nipple!" "Boober!" "Mine!" 'No, mine!" "Hey, let
me in!"
Jeremy: "Oh, oh. (Topaz sniffed the microphone.) Is this on? Love, love! Like
Ghandi, I will wait."
Like that.
It's still one of my favorite moments with Jeremy. We didn't always agree on
everything and sometimes he got on my nerves, but he was always willing to help
me when I needed him and he sure knew his technical stuff!
There was another time he was a beat-box for me in a wrap video I starred in.
Thanks, Jeremy.
I sang "Alphabet Soup" for Jeremy's episode of "PB & J", the Broadcast
Television class we had with Dr. Spires. That was fun!
There's so much more I could share and it's only because I've spent the last 14
years thinking about him that I have so many vivid memories. I think I'll close
with this...
I graduated from MTSU in May '92. My back surgery was scheduled for June of that
year. Topaz had given birth late April, same year. One day, just before my
parents were coming to Middle Tennessee to pick me up (I could no longer get out
of bed), Jeremy came to visit. He walked into my bedroom and gently sat down
beside me, taking my hand.
"T.", he said, "I love you. Topaz loves you. We want you to have a little
something to remember us by." With that, Heather walked in my room with a
wiggly, squirmy puppy...the runt of the litter. After loads of puppy kisses and
giggles, Jeremy asked me what I would name her. We decided to call her
"Runt-baby".
Love you, buddy. God bless.
Name: Karen Blodgett
Email:
emtblodgett@email.uophx.edu
Date: 3 February 2006
I served with Jeremy in the Peace Corps.
He was a good friend. We connected on a level I did not with anyone else. I
think he related to several people this way. It was as if our inner children
would come out to play. When I would stop by to see him in his office he might
say "Would you like to have lunch?" and then throw me a candy bar and a soda
from his desk. We sat eating our candy bars and he would comment on what the
school children passing by his office window might be thinking. "Here
sit two average Americans eating their average lunch," and staring as if
watching animals though a zoo cage window on a zoo tour. One time I met him at
his house to walk to town. I picked up one of his plastic dinosaurs and said
"Hello Jeremy!" He said I could bring him with us he needed a walk. We watched a
movie about Don Juan and the thing I remember most was him "reading" the warning
in Afrikaans, which he did not speak. When I hear the song I'll be missing you
by Puff Daddy I always think of him. He left too soon. By Karen Blodgett (Bredenfoerder)
Date:
8 July
2003
I met Jeremy Rolfs when he was in kindergarten. I knew then that he would impact
the world. He was bright, talented, and had that look in his eyes - you know the
one I mean. It's the look that tells you that he has a secret that can change
the world and he will just explode if he can't share it with you. And so, Jeremy
exploded onto the world and left a legacy of joy and triumph - along with one of
silliness and maybe a little stubbornness. Tenacity might be a better word than
stubborn, but it doesn't matter. It just matters that my life was touched by his
and I feel greatly honored by that. To his mother, father and sister, I give my
thanks. You shared him with me and I can never repay the gift.
Name:
Bob Spires
Date:
1 July
2003
So glad to see Jeremy remembered. One of his profs.
To submit a comment of your own, email
webmaster@fpcv.org
|
