In Honor of Brian!

I started hearing stories about my dad that

made me think “He did that?!??!.....What did you say?!?!?! He helped you

how?!?!?!” In short, to me, my father seemed to be a bit different in his

professional world, than he was in his home world. Recently I had the honor to

attend Brian Hendrickx’s funeral. The members of his family struck me as having

the same thoughts and feelings that I had. Caring. Giving. Thoughtful. Going

the extra mile. Always there. Humble. Kind. Never complained. It occurred

to me that Brian was the same guy personally that he was professionally. Maybe

times are a little different now than 25 years ago when my Dad died, but I like

the thought that I really got to know Brian for who he really was, not just a

great guy you worked with. I had a theory. After many years of working and

hiring in the Hotel business where I was taught to really hire the resume over

the person, when I started my own company, I would hire people that I could see

being a member of my family (The good ones, not the crazy Uncle Ed types).

Members of your family you can be honest with, they know you, and you them. You

understand their strengths and weaknesses, and you accept them with the caveat

that you may be able to teach them a thing or two, and you in turn learn a thing

or two. I have done this with SRE. Everyone I have hired, I can envision

sitting at the Thanksgiving table with, or simply going out to the grocery

store. People that are there for you when you least expect it. And people you

want to be there for. Brian was a member of my family. The SRE family. Just

like in his “Real” family, he was a brother, a father, a caretaker, and someone

who you could always count on to be there. I’ll never forget you Brian

Hendricx. Thanks for helping to make SRE a better family.

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