Tim Redovian Memorial Fund

Interview by Pavlos Michael Francis

The article below is an example of Tim at work today! It was written by Pavlos Michael Francis who interviewed Sherrill Redovian the night of the Tim Redovian Memorial Fund’s 10th Anniversary Party (November 4, 2006).

                                                 THE GIFT OF TIME ...

AS AN ACTOR YOU STRIVE TO BE IN THE MOMENT…TO BE PRESENT… AFTER I WAS “INTRODUCED” TO TIM REDOVIAN, I REALIZED JUST HOW FAR I HAD TO GO.

AT A RECENT FUNDRAISER FOR THE TIM REDOVIAN MEMORIAL FUND I WAS PRIVILEGED ENOUGH TO MEET THE WOMAN RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS YOUNG MAN AND THE FOUNDATION WHICH HONORS HIM… HIS MOTHER.

I WILL NEVER KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE TO LOSE SOMEONE THAT YOU CARRIED INSIDE YOUFOR NINE MONTHS.  NO MOTHER SHOULDEVER LOSE HER SON, I THOUGHT TO MYSELF OVER AND OVER AGAIN AS A MOTHER SHARED STORIES OF HER DEPARTED SON.

AS I SAT AND LISTENED ATTEMPTING TO COMPREHEND SHERRILL REDOVIAN’S PAIN, THERE WAS A KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. WE HAD A VISITOR…COMPASSION. I COULD NOW FEEL YOUR MOTHER’S AGONY. WITHOUT WARNING AN UNINVITED GUEST JOINED US. MY OWN GRIEF TOOK OVER. TEARS OF COMPASSION TRANSFORMED INTO REMEMBRANCE OF SORROW WHICH HAS PLAGUED ME MY ENTIRE LIFE FROM HAVING LOST MY OWN MOTHER AT A VERY YOUNG AGE. AT THAT MOMENT I HEARD TIM TELL ME TO LET GO. 

AS I LISTENED TO STORIES ABOUT YOU FROM YOUR CLASSMATES, YOUR DIRECTORS, YOUR BROTHERS, YOUR FATHER, THE WOMAN WHO GAVE YOU LIFE, AND ALL WHO WERE BLESSED TO HAVE KNOWN YOU, I FOUND MYSELF WISHING I HAD MET YOU. DESPITE YOUR PHYSICAL ABSENCE I WAS GETTING TO KNOW YOU. I FELT A CONNECTION TO YOU. THIS TIME YOU TOLD ME TO SMILE…

A GIFT TO ALL WHO YOU ENCOUNTERED, YOU MADE THEM SMILE.

YOU WERE INFECTIOUS FOR YOU WERE REAL. YOU WERE LOVE. YOU WERE JOY. YOU BROUGHT OUT THE BEST IN EVERYONE BY SIMPLY CHALLENGING THEM TO BE THEMSELVES. THROUGH YOUR TUTELAGE OF JUST BEING YOU… YOU SHOWED US THAT WE COULD ALSO BE THE PERSON WE ALWAYS DREAMED OF BEING AND THAT WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD…AS YOU HAVE DONE…FOREVER.

TIM, YOU TOUCHED MY LIFE IN A WAY I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO REPAY. YOU TAUGHT ME WHAT IS IMPORTANT…TO LIVE KINDLY, PASSIONATELY, JOYFULLY, AND WITHOUT REGRET. WHETHER IN A BROADWAY PRODUCTION, ON CNN OR JUST BEING TIM, YOUR PRESENCE WAS YOUR GIFT TO ALL WHO WERE FORTUNATE TO HAVE COME INTO CONTACT WITH YOU. I WILL CARRY YOUR SPIRIT WITH ME FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE AND I HOPE TO ONE DAY BE HALF THE PERSON YOU WERE. OVERWHELMED BY MY DESIRE TO SHARE YOUR INSTRUCTIONS, I HEARD YOU SAY, “IT’S OKAY, NOW I WILL LIVE THROUGH YOU.”
I FOUND MYSELF, YET AGAIN, ON THE RECEIVING END OF YOUR GENEROSITY. MY PAIN WAS NOW REPLACED BY HOPE. THE WORLD CHANGED. I SAW CLEARER. I WOULD NO LONGER ALLOW MY INSECURITIES TO PREVAIL. I WOULD NO LONGER JUDGE OTHERS. I WOULD FROM NOW ON LOOK AT EVERYONE THE WAY TIM DID…THE SAME. FOR WE AS SOULS, ARE ALL CONNECTED. I NO LONGER NEEDED MY PAIN. I NO LONGER HELD ON TO MY INSECURITIES. ALL I NOW WANTED WAS TO WEAR A PAIR OF CONVERSE, AS WAS HIS TRADEMARK, IN TIM'S FAVORITE COLOR…Yellow. A COLOR WHICH NO LONGER SIGNIFIES CAUTION, RATHER NOW REPRESENTS JOY.

JOY, TIM BROUGHT TO MY LIFE, WHICH WILL BE SHARED, FOLLOWING IN TIM’S YELLOW CONVERSE FOOTSTEPS, WITH ALL WHO ENCOUNTER ME.

AS I WALK IN YOUR SHADOW I BEGAN THINKING ABOUT SOMETHING THAT YOUR MOTHER TOLD ME…THAT YOU WEREN’T AN ACTOR FOR THE FAME. I COULD NOT UNDERSTAND. YOU COULD ACT. YOU COULD SING. YOU COULD DANCE. YOU WERE A LEADING MAN. YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN THE BIGGEST STAR IN THE HISTORY OF FILM IF YOU WOULD HAVE HAD MORE TIME. I NOW UNDERSTOOD. YOU WERE BEING GROOMED TO STEP OFF THE STAGE AND AWAY FROM THE SCREEN WHERE YOU WOULD PLAY YOUR GREATEST ROLE EVER… THE STARS, THE SUN AND THE SKY. I FINALLY UNDERSTAND WHY YOU WEREN’T IN IT FOR THE FAME, FOR YOU KNEW IN TIME YOUR NAME WOULD FOREVER BE IN LIGHTS.

FOR NOW BECAUSE OF YOU TIM, THE WORLD NOW SHINES IN A YELLOW HUE. THANKS TO YOU, AN INSECURE BOY FILLED WITH PAIN FELT A MOTHER’S LOVE WHICH MADE HIM INTO THE MAN HE ALWAYS DREAMED OF BEING…A MAN, NOW, WITH A PURPOSE; TO SHARE THE MAGIC YOU GAVE HIM WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD. MY PAIN BROUGHT ME TO YOU. YOU BROUGHT ME TO YOUR MOTHER. THROUGH HER, YOU TAUGHT ME ABOUT YOU. FOR THIS I CAN ONLY THANK YOU. WE ALL THANK YOU. WE LOVE YOU. WE ARE BETTER PEOPLE BECAUSE OF YOU AND WILL DO THE ONLY THING THAT YOU WOULD LIKE FOR US TO AND THAT IS TO SHARE AND TEACH WHAT YOU HAVE DONE FOR US WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD. FOR YOU LIVE IN AND THROUGH US AT THIS MOMENT AND WILL ALWAYS…FOREVER IN TIME.

TIM’S PASSION FOR LIFE AND LOVE OF THE ARTS CONTINUES TO SHINE THROUGH THE TIM REDOVIAN MEMORIAL FUND.

Pavlos Michael Francis

November 7, 2006