Dan Fredinburg was not my best friend. He was not one of my closest friends. We only met a few years ago, but there was an immediate kinship formed and he was a true friend from that point forward… until an avalanche struck Everest Basecamp one week ago and took Dan’s life.
Just six weeks ago I was in San Francisco, where I met up with Dan and four other friends for dinner on a typically brisk night. Dan and I shared a cab, sat across from one another at the table trading travel stories, and at night’s end I distinctly remember him telling me how excited he was to return to Everest.
(At dinner with Dan in friends in 2013)
He’d been on the mountain just a year earlier when the deadliest avalanche in Everest’s history killed every team on the mountain except Dan’s. He’d performed body recovery, returned through the damaged route, and returned home unable to reach the peak. The last thing he said to me that evening after dinner was, “I can’t wait to get back. I just need to finish what I started.” We hugged, and he walked out the door.
Will you spend your days making calls, or finding your calling? (click to Tweet this).
If you haven’t already learned about Dan’s life through the myriad of Instagram posts, Facebook stories and headline news tributes that have flooded the airwaves over the past week, allow me to briefly describe him as if you’d never heard of him.
Dan was an imposing physical figure. Six foot four, muscle-bound and handsome, he was the type of guy who could have coasted through life on his looks alone. But his brain was what made him so beloved. He possessed the type of complex brilliance that most admire but never fully understand. Within minutes of talking to him you understood that he saw the world through a different lens from the rest of us.
Your friends in life will determine your lens on life. (click to Tweet this).
It is through this refracted lens that led Dan to pursue the path he did. I always marveled at how a guy like Dan could take on such huge adventures, but the more I got to know him the more I realized it wasn’t a choice. It was simply who he was. This path ultimately led to his death. But it was his unrelenting pursuit of life’s greatest adventures that also filled Dan with an undeniably extraordinary life.
For many of us who have recently migrated from our 20’s into our 30’s, the sense of immortality we’ve felt throughout most of our lives came to an abrupt end last Saturday morning. At least it did for me.
There is no silver lining to Dan’s death. It is all sadness and sorrow and loss. But when you consider how he died, you see how he lived.
He perished doing what he loved most, and the only way to honor him is to commit to the same fate in each of our lives. Discover what you love most and craft a life so that whenever your time comes, you’ll know too that you squeezed every bit out of life just like Dan did.
***To make a donation in Dan’s honor please contribute here: https://www.crowdrise.com/celebratingdan
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Jowela
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Deepa
One of the greatest pieces of advice or clarification someone gave me is the meaningful of ‘humbleness’. For a long time I had associated this word, which is quoted in many eastern esoteric traditions with meekness and not speaking up. Until it was explained to me humbleness means acting with the best intentions and interest for all people and if that requires speaking up or taking action one must do so especially if he/she has the ability and skill to do so.
He then went on to explain the inherent quality or nature of human beings (e.g like heat of fire and wetness of water) is service. We serve our partners as a husband or wife, our children as mother or father, our parents as a daughter or son etc and sometimes we get pets so we can serve them. Since our natural position is to serve we should do so with heart and to the best of our ability. This he said is the esoteric secret to all loving relationships and the gateway to all understanding.
May sound Naf but his words definitely had a positive impact on my life. Hopefully it will on yours too. 🙂
🙂 x
Adam
Wow, beautiful words. Thank you for sharing Deepa.
Nikita
I am sorry for the huge loss. May their soul rest in peace.
Thank you for shaking me up from head to toe. I will try now, to find my calling. Like a tribute to such people who lost their lives while living what they dreamed ever. You left me with tears.
I am sorry Again.
Thanks Adam, Thanks an unknown stranger Dan for being the way you were and setting truly an example for others.
Condolence to people closely and somehow associated with them, huge loss.
Monale
So sorry for your loss Adam Braun. I am glad that you can say with certainty that Dan lived life on his on terms, and he died doing what he loved the most. Saying prayers for you and the loved ones he left behind.
Adam
Absolutely, he died doing what he loved most is 100% true.
Darlene at AustinFan
I am in tears.
* What a beautiful tribute to Dan
* LOTS to think about pertaining to how I live my life.
darlene
Kim Agnew Cohen
Beautiful tribute, Adam. Very moving and your words of wisdom…so true.
Love,
Kim Agnew Cohen
Adam
Appreciate the feedback Darlene and Kim, would have preferred to not be in the position to write this post but we all deal with tragedy in our own way and in my case writing has always been the best release.