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Imagine a great, stone statue representing all the heroes of the world. Not only the great heroes that we have seen throughout time, but also the personal heroes; people who make a difference in a large or small way for those others lucky enough to be close to them. Dr. Tom was a great man; one of the rare people who was not only a pioneer to the world, but also both hero and mentor to everyone who was fortunate enough to have him in their life. This is Dr. Tom's part of the great statue. Here, you can leave your thoughts, inscribed on the stone forever, as your personal dedication to him. Whether you have many words, or only a few, you may leave them here forever for Dr. Tom. You do not have to worry about being a "good writer," or about saying everything you want to say all at once. You may return at any time and add another entry of any length. Our feelings and memories of Dr. Tom are what's important, and this online memorial page is here to collect them, not to restrict your words.
Instructions for leaving your own inscription are at the bottom of the page, or click here to be taken to them.
Dr. Thomas Kazo, Eth., Ph.D.
September 21, 1946 - May 8, 2006
This is the poem that our Founder, Dr. Tom Kazo, lived by.
He would recite it from heart to anyone who asked him how they should live their lives.
Wildlife Research Team will continue on in his memory.
If
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream -- and not make dreams your master;
If you can think -- and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings -- nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And which is more; you'll be a Man, my son! |
| --Rudyard Kipling | |
Tom,
I don't know if I managed when I last spoke to you, but I tried to tell you how much of an inspiration you have always been to me. I tried, but words aren't really enough to explain it. You have always been my example to follow, both in the peaceful times and when I needed to keep going and keep struggling against the odds. I have always loved you and always been happy and proud to have you in my life. I am immensely grateful for everything you taught me, even the lessons which aren't so easy to define...like the strength I picked up just by being around you. You have defined my standards for myself and I am a better person because of that. You are, and will always be, my hero. -- Christianna Cannon, inscribed May 26, 2006
Tom, my best friend, husband, soulmate, love of my
life, co-paddler, co-founder, co-writer, fellow
artist, best teacher, best student, I miss you every
second of every day.
Yet, I know it was always your mission, your goal, to
give me enough confidence in myself to know that I
can, I must go on without your physical presence. You
said you were depending on me to run our Wildlife
Research Team.
I can feel you right there with me every time I pick
up a canoe paddle. You had such faith in me long
before I did.
I remember the happiness in your voice as I gained
sureness in handling a canoe. I can hear you saying,
"it's just like you're walking in a screen door!" soon
after we began venturing forth together in that first
Wildlife Research Team canoe.
That canoe, "Do-er" had a lot in common with you,
darling. Both of you had been battered by storms and
were badly scarred, but still with years of useful
life ahead, once a few repairs had been made. All you
wanted was another chance. And you were so good about
giving others that same chance to redeem themselves.
You knew.
You were an artist with fiberglass, among other
mediums! So you healed that canoe, and that canoe
healed you. And me. I was something of a mess, indeed,
when you came back into my life with a death sentence
over your head.
So we healed each other, too, my love.
Thank you for being the first to tell me I was strong.
I really miss your jokes and your unique and very off
the wall humor, your zany take on life, your
poetically goofy yet romantic way with words. I miss
the development of our own special secret language.
You were always so relieved when I knew exactly what
you were trying to say when you couldn't remember the
exact words.
What I really lament is the loss to humanity of that
vast and eclectic store of knowledge stored up in your
brain.
I am so sad for the dogs who love you and miss you,
and wonder if they sense where their best pal went?
You were so graceful, so fluid, so loose. You never,
ever froze up or were stuck for an answer or a
solution. That was part of your secret for your dog
training success. You'd let a mean dog pretty much
bite you to let him know that there was someone who
wouldn't back down. You were great at calling bluffs.
Not that you were ever, ever foolish with biting dogs!
You knew what you were doing at all times. No dog
could surprise you: you were in his head immediately
and could see yourself through his eyes. And the dogs
were always so relieved to see you! They knew! Even
over the phone, the first time you spoke with a
frazzled owner, you were usually able to solve the
problem. Training dogs never got old for you. You
loved finding answers. You relished every challenge,
the harder the better.
I miss the look on your face at 4 a.m., when the
normal world was asleep, and everything was possible.
The whole world was yours then. I miss that gleam in
your eye as we were driving with the canoes to get on
the water before the sun came up. You lived for every
sunrise, and every sunset, and each time the sun came
up, it was for you, a sign you were still here to make
the best of every day, even if you'd barely slept. You
were a 24-hour-a-day person. You taught me to expect a
whole lot more out of myself.
I miss how you'd come up behind me and kiss the top of
my shoulder.
I miss what a bad little kid you were, particularly
when it came to ice cream, cookies, pie, donuts, and
cakes! I still joke that my name being so close to a
favorite treat was why you loved me! I am less than
pleased with the twenty pounds I gained by simply
hanging out with you, however.
What I don't miss is the pain on your face brought on
by your diabetic foot ulcers, your peripheral
neuropathy, the cancer's ravages. How did you do it,
honey?
No more suffering, Tom. No more crazy cramps in the
middle of the night. No wonder you didn't like to
sleep.
You managed to hang onto all of your toes no matter
how many infected bones the good podiatrists at the VA
Hospital removed from your besieged feet. You and Pain
were old friends, you told me, very matter-of-fact.
Well, that's one old friend you can drop off your
A-list now!
I am glad I was strong enough to keep my promise to
you, that you'd be here at home with me, safe in our
bed, not in that scary VA, when death finally came to
claim you.
That you always felt safe with me, and were on your
best behavior with me, through these 28-plus years,
was the greatest compliment anyone has ever given me.
That alone gave me confidence and strength.
You were the fiercest of fighters, of soldiers, but
never a foolish one. You always weighed out the
options, and were able to discern the risk and reward
ratio better than anyone.
I still say, "Men are from Mars, women are from Venus,
and Tom is from some planet nobody has ever heard of."
Yes, indeed, that is the only acceptable explanation.
How else can you explain so many contradictions within
one human being? Summed up by Scary but Silly? A man
trained to kill by the military, but who little
children and puppies approached with delight?
People who comment on how much you loved to talk, may
or may not be aware of how much they talked to you,
often confessing much more than they intended. You
made them feel safe, that no confession was too
outrageous or out of line. You truly liked women, and
it was astonishing how many of us would confess our
menstrual problems to you!
You especially liked women who were a little more
"spunky" which was a favorite word of yours. That
special spark is what you looked for. Glad you helped
me to find and develop mine, like nobody else had ever
been able to do.
You also loved people, canine and human, who had, as
you called it, "Pizzazz!"
And I use the word, Love, as you would have me use it.
A sacred word, that you never used lightly.
Well, thanks to my precious daughter, I have the
chance to cathartically write these words to you.
Thank you, Tom, for being such a good friend and
mentor to my daughters. Thank you for understanding
that they came first in my daily round, and that I had
to raise them in a safer place, which meant long weeks
without you and me spending time together physically.
Thank you for going to their schools to talk about
life in the wilderness and to teach their classmates
how to respect nature. Thank you for being a friend to
their friends.
Thank you for all the phone calls, to keep us bonded.
In our fifteen and a half years together, I doubt if
there were five days where we didn't talk on the
phone.
When Christianna told me about her memorial to you on
our WRT webpage, my mind shut down. It was just after
you departed from this plane of existence.
Obviously, I cannot possibly sum up our life together,
my love for you, in a few perfect words carved in
marble. The words for that don't even exist. So, babe,
even though you didn't understand or like computers,
you've got to admit that this is a superb way to share
our special love with the love-starved world. Maybe we
can still give hope to the hopeless, living by
example.
Well, beloved husband, please give Trep a hug for me.
I can still remember the feel of the top of his head
as I was painting his portrait all those years ago.
That was our first co-birthday, when I gave you that
painting, and I recall the tear trickling down your
cheek that night. I know you held his memory in your
heart, along with a lot of other dogs with "pizzazz"
all of these years.
Remember how I told you that you'd better go to
Heaven, because none of your dogs would go to Hell,
despite your whole Hell On Paws Kennel thing?
I am sure that for someone like you, it is only Heaven
if your dogs are there with you. Well, we have no way
of knowing, of proving. Take it on faith until our
days here are over.
I still cannot believe that your days here are over.
But I know I will see you again someday. I know that
you accepted God into your heart, that you were able
to feel His presence guiding you in many terrifying
experiences, that He guided you through each of them.
I wonder how many people knew how fiercely private you
actually were about such soul-issues?
Guess this is a mighty large statue, with enough room
for all of this, but that would be consistent,
wouldn't it, big guy? There's plenty of room on just
one of your statue's size 17 feet for this inscription
and plenty of others.
So, for now, I will focus on another project, but know
that you are right there with me, watching me from our
own little star you told me about.
Hope things are going well as you reorganize Heaven!
Love you for eternity, beloved husband,
your "Donut"
-- inscribed August 27, 2006
How to add your inscription: Please send an email to  and include the following:
- In the Subject line, put "Inscription for Dr. Tom Memorial."
- In the body of the email, write what you want to appear on this page.
- Please include your name as you wish to sign it on your inscription. If you do not include your name, you will be recorded as "Anonymous."
- Your inscription will appear on the memorial within a few days. I add each one myself, and depending on how many I receive, it might take a day or two. I will add the inscriptions based on the order I receive them. If I have any questions I will email you back before adding your inscription.
- If at any time you want to come back and leave another inscription, you may. You are not limited to one.
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