Dave, Michael, Edwin, and Ola - Senior Prom, 1987
Edwin Gossett Lives On Forever In Our Hearts
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Dave, Michael, Edwin, and
Ola - Senior Prom, 1987
Friends Remembering
Prom Date - Claudia Dujardin
A Note from Edwin - Juli Ball
Notification and Expression of Sorrow - Noel McMichael
Remembering KL - Luis H. Mora
Edwin as we knew him in KL - Niel F. Schubert
Poem "Thinking of You" - Tracey S. Schram
Words after the funeral - Noel McMichael
Details of the funeral for friends who could not attend - Luis Mora
Chicken Foot - Mark Hayden
Remembering his smile - Jan Thomas
Phuket Memories - Chiara
Edwin saves the day at the Waterfall - Kiri Orhan
The infamous VW crash - Omar Shakhshir
Reflections of Edwin - Pia Zain
Claudia Dujardin, Octoner 21, 2001
Juli Ball, April 04, 2001
Edwin Note
Juli
Noel McMichael, Thursday, October 22, 1998
Luis H. Mora, October 24, 1998
Every year friends leave me, real friends this year all ready two Friends who I loved like brothers whom I thought would be here till the end of time, and now you. Will I graduate alone or will I soon join the ranks of the departed, and for once leave a gap in someone else's heart, instead of vise versa. Some one once told me its hard to get used to it at first, but it will get easier. Well What a load of shit . The only way it gets easier is if so many people leave that there is no one left to leave, then maybe it will be easier to face the empty void halls, than it is now to face the crowed halls, where the bodies have no faces, and no love. Only emptiness.
Two letters side by side in the alphabet and nestled next to each other on a keyboard, two letters that mean nothing to others, but mean everything in the world to us. This is not a school, its not a country its not even a place you lived. K.L. yes K.L. not Kuala Lumpur, because K.L. is so indefinite a name. Any way K.L. is none of those things, Its your first sunrise, your first time smelling a fresh flower in a field of sunlight, your first sexual experience, your first friend, first enemy, and your first love. Like these K.L. is a time, a word, a thought, an experience yes and experience, one that will shape the rest of your life, one not soon forgotten yet not easily remembered . Like your shadow it will remain vague and dull but it will always be there. Never look back, don't try and catch your shadow, you cannot and it will only slow you down. Keep moving forward and it will follow you where ever you go. Like us the friends you are leaving behind, we will always follow behind you, with you, around you, search deep enough in the empty hole in your heart and you will find us sitting at our table just the way you left us, like wise we will find you. We will not be there for you when you hurt the most in life, for some battles must be fought alone, but we will be there when you need us. Are we all part of a royal priest hood, who have learned the joys and hardships life and now are slowly lining up to feel the pain so we can proudly carry our scars, forever on the inside where only we can see them. I may be far out there you only need to reach out to feel and understand what I mean. When you come to the fork in the road do not think of Frost, he was a fool.
You are not to follow every one else and take the right path and you are not to take the path not taken either, it is not yours. You must never be afraid to leave the path and not rely on what others have done, you must be willing to make your own path and let you lead your self, who knows maybe one day all of our paths will meet again somewhere, but I will not lie to a friend, it is not a likely possibility.
You see Frost was not totally
wrong, 'nothing Gold can stay' even protected by the peace and love of our guardian city
we must all stand up, turn and face the light. Our friendships are not forged in stone.
They are much stronger than that, they are forged in the blood, that we gave for each
other, distances, we went for each other, sweat, we shed while helping each other, pain,
we shared with each other, knowledge, we learned with each other, they are forged in the
tears we cried for each other, our friendships are not forged in stone, they are forged in
love . While our love for each other will never die what of our future ? Are we like a
cluster of lines who all intersected on a plane that we must continue on indefinitely and
not turn back or waver from our course, maybe the earth is round and we will meet again on
the other side, If you need me I will come at whatever cost, until then trust your heart
and trust your memory's because while they may lie to you, they will always protect you. (
written in KL ten years ago)
Luis H. Mora
Dear all
After reading Niel's words to Edwin and Luis' details of the funeral, I'd like to add
something.
Admittedly I was only part of Edwin's life for a couple of years but they were important
years for me, and they were ones in which he figured prominently (as did many of the Taman
gang). Like many of us I'll always remember him as a great character - living life to the
full. If there was something going on, more often than not, Edwin had something to do with
it.
I wondered at first whether my memories weren't as politically correct as the occasion
warranted. But then I thought about it and, well, Edwin really wasn't a 'p.c.' kind of
guy. After Taman finished with us I doubt any of us are ...
besides we were all teenagers then. And as teenagers we did out fair share of bizarre
stuff.
so for his daughter (I guess when
she's old enough) the story of the chicken foot.
A load of us were driving around, either on the way to Taman, PD, football practice or to
egg Stucker's place - details escape me - when Edwin suddenly insists on stopping by an
old Chinese coffee shop. You know, the type with old chopped off chicken feet hanging in
the window (supposedly for some weird brew no one ever eats). Anyway, the convoy screeches
to a halt and Edwin disappears inside grinning. Hardly a minute goes by and he returns
with a bemused shopkeeper in tow. Edwin's got in his hand a chicken foot, a gnarled up
wicked looking thing. Of course we all wonder what the heck is going on. What could he
possibly want with that .... that .... THING! Within seconds Edwin has outstretched the
chicken's 'index' finger/claw (for posterity) transforming it into that universal one
fingered salute we all know so well. For the rest of the day that chicken foot rode
shotgun with him as he zipped around in his RX 7 'saluting' motorists with this bony
appendage. He peeled out from countless traffic lights leaving behind a lot of grins. None
wider than his.
Guess the point is - only someone like Edwin could inspire humor from something as
gruesome as a chicken foot. So as well as remembering him as a friend, Mr. Football,
maestro beer chugger and king of car park donuts, I'll also remember him as the joker with
a wild, wild streak.
I sure hope they have beer in heaven. And no chicken feet.
Rest easy Edwin.
Looking back and remembering is extremely rewarding but never easy and in fact I find it gets more painful with age. What is making it more difficult is that not only has the place KL as we knew it disappeared but now tragically so are the friends we experienced it with.
Edwin had an uncanny ability to enjoy life to the fullest always wearing a tremendous smile on his face. Whether I remember him at Taman, The Landing, a remote Beach, or ISKL grounds, what stands out most in my mind is his smile. Having not seen him later in life I can only pray that his smile is something he continued wearing through the years and will continue to do in the better place he is now in. Like the picture posted above and the many more we plan on posting I would want his daughter to always remember her dads wonderful smile.
As difficult a time his family is
going through I want them to know to never despair as there are many of us who will never
forget and always remember the friend Edwin was and will continue to be in our hearts.
Hello to all,
I couldn't believe the news of Edwin's passing. It was a real shock and even thought I wanted to write and express my deepest sorrow to his family and friends it took me a while to gather my thoughts and actually realize that he is gone. I haven't seen him since we graduated in '87 in KL but I have talked to him a couple of times since.
Like Luis says in his message and like a lot of old friends I often spoke to about our years in KL years go by but you always remember those happy times, those crazy times, those wonderful friends. I feel so blessed to have lived in such a remarkable place and so blessed to have met so many wonderful people from all walks of life whom I still remember so vividly and miss so much. One of them: Edwin. I have gotten to know Edwin more than ever during one of our crazy trips to Pucket even though we were in the same class. He was so much fun and so full of life and so crazy. I remember he was the only one who had rented a some type of dune buggy and wow was he going fast. Teresa and I went with him once and drove around like crazy all over the island. What fun our trips were. The "girls" would spend most of the day at the beach and the "boys" would just rent their bikes and explore the island most of the time drunk and often ending up on a tree or in a rice paddy with buffaloes close by but fortunately none was going back home with more than a scratch here and there which would make the trip even more adventurous. Girls and boys however would meet up at some point during the day; either after waking up and having nasi goreng for breakfast all together and recounting the stories of the night before or after a day at the beach in some store having banana shakes before going all drinking or dancing at night to Patong. After that trip we would meet up in Taman and make fun of each other. Edwin would mostly make fun of my name.
I remember calling him a couple
of times years after we graduated when I was in Florida and needed to talk to my old
friends and as soon as he picked up the phone and listened to my voice with my typical
Italian accent he
recognized me immediately. More than ever I remember his laughter, his rowdy voice, his
wonderful wit, in
his football uniform and with a beer in his hand. I would have loved to have
gotten to know him better.
My heart deeply goes to his
family, his wife and daughter. He is protecting them and watching over them and all of us.
Bye my friend. We'll really miss you.
Chiara
Does anyone remember the time we went to that beautiful waterfall outside of KL? I
can't remember where it was anymore. Mike, Pia, Oliver, Edwin, are some of those who were
there. I can't remember who else was there. On the way down, after a significant number of
beers, Pia fell and twisted her ankle. I remember it was a few weeks before she had to
play the lead in a school play. Oliver offered to make her a crutch (actually, he called
it a 'crotch' ) out of a fallen branch, but couldn'y find one. Anyway, Edwin and I sort of
half-carried half-dragged Pia down the hill and across the rice fields and Edwin was
singing all these funny marching tunes to keep our spirits up. It took us forever to get
down to where the cars were parked and everyone was wondering what happened to us. You
know, Edwin was always so cool and so fun,
but those times when he was tender and loving are the times I really treasure. It makes me
so sad that his daughter won't remember that about him.
I visited the page on our site that has been dedicated to Edwin and read the passages
friends had wrote. After reading the memories and character traits that some members of
the 'Taman Gang' had written I realized just how much we have all lost. Edwin was a true
friend to me and his passing has saddened me deeply, as I'm sure it has for everyone who
knew him.
Their are many memories I have of Edwin and I would like to share one of them with all who
would like to remember him in his younger and wilder days.
One of the first memories I have of Edwin is in 1987, my Sophomore year. We were up at
Anchor top drinking, there was Edwin, Mike Alexander, Kristin (Coca Cola woman) and
myself. Of course we were all pounding beer and being young and crazy. It started to
drizzle slightly so we decided to leave. As we get to the bottom of the hill of Anchor
Top, Edwin says go left, the long way round Taman Tar, and lets see how this car handles.
I was driving the white VW Golf Cabriolet. By this time it had stopped drizzling. So we
put down the roof and Mike sits on the roof, his feet of the rear seats, and holding on to
the roll bar. We go screaming around Taman Tar, absolutely crazy and stupid driving
by yours truly. We get to the last bend which is right in front of Dar Al-Ehsan's entrance
and I lose control of the car. We slide leftwards off the road and smack right into a
tree. When we hit the tree, at about 60-80 km/h, something flew over our heads. The first
thing that I said was "Everyone out of the car" for fear that it might explode
or something stupid like that. We get out and we were no longer four people but only
three. Mike was missing. A few seconds later we hear some moaning and groaning. On the
left side of the trees there is the HUGE Monsoon drain. Mike, upon impact, had flown out
of the car, over our heads, and landed in the drain. We get him out and take him to a
doctor that was open, I believe somewhere next to the Pink Table Cloth. The doctor says to
us that Mike is alright, just bruised and scratched, and adds that it was lucky that he
was soooooooo drunk because when he landed he landed like a pile of jelly. The memory of
this incident that sticks in my mind however is that after all this was done and we needed
to tow the car to my house, Edwin and myself get into the front seats of the car, which we
had to jump into as the doors wouldn't open, while it is lifted at about a 45 degree angle
behind the tow truck put on the stereo, which amazingly was still working. We ended up
sitting in the car with the music blasting being towed around KL at 3 or 4 o'clock in the
morning. Anyone who saw us that night must have thought, well actually known, that we were
a bunch of young, crazy fools.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that Edwin helped me have a little fun in one of the
worst situations I have been in. He always seemed to be able to make the situation more
enjoyable, no matter what it was. For that and many other things Edwin you will always be
in my heart and you live on in everyone that you touched, especially me.
To the only man I have ever seen "Yam sing" a pitcher with his teeth in about 14
seconds, I know, in my heart, that where ever you are now my good friend, you are
happy and being looked after.
Rest easy my crazy friend, and one day we will all be sitting together, once more, like
the days we remember and cherish so dearly.
One of Edwin's good friends,
Omar Shakhshir
The news of Edwin's death has shocked and saddened me deeply. I have found myself at odd moments remembering ISKL, and the time we spent together in that strange, magical oasis, seperated from the real world by ties of communal culture in a country that was not our own. I found myself remembering Edwin and the way he moved, and his grace, his laughter, and his way of being kind to people who needed it; his protectiveness and generosity - and the way his eyes often lit up with overwhelming glee. I guess what makes his death even more difficult to deal with is that in this life, one meets very few people who have a strong core of internal goodness - and when we do, we hold their presence in this world to us as a protective mantle against the bad times. Edwin's intrinsic kindness, his sweetness, his smile ... well, it was good to know that he was around, even seperated by time and distance. Edwin was many things - he was naughty and rowdy and larger than life. He drove his car fast in those thick humid KL nights, and you felt his pleasure in the speed and the rush of night air. He loved his beer and his games and he took enourmous pleasure in living life in the present. Underneath all that,there was a man who actually stopped to listen when a friend was feeling pain; a person who could be incredibly gentle and honest - someone who had an abiding respect for other people, and a need to make them feel part of his joy.
I remember when I fell down the waterfall, and Edwin and Kiri helped me get back to the
cars, and I remember how I felt so uncoordinated and stupid - and Edwin - he made it feel
like an adventure, singing and laughing and teasing and staying with me every step of the
way, encouraging me and making me smile. He was always willing to make that extra effort,
to help when it was needed. Suddenly things got brighter in his presence. I havent seen or
spoken to Edwin for years, but I thought of him, wondered what had become of him; heard of
him through others who I kept in contact with. I struggle to write this letter because its
about someone who I always thought would be there, in the periphery of my life - always a
phone call away - who one day I would get around to contacting again, and now its too
late, and I grieve for his wife and daughter and family and for that missed chance . I am
glad he had a daughter, and that she carries his smile and his eyes and his curly hair,
and I hope she will know that her father was beloved - all over the world, people hold a
small part of his spirit inside them - please know your father was a special person, with
great dignity and joy and generosity. He will be missed, but the good that he left behind
will be here for a long time. Tidur baik abang. Go well our sweet friend. Hamba khale
Edwin.
With Love,
Pia
Love arrives and in its train come ecstasies old memories of pleasure ancient histories of pain. Yet if we are bold, love strikes away the chains of fear from our souls.
We are weaned from our timidity In the flush of love's light we dare be brave And suddenly we see that love costs all we are and will ever be. Yet it is only love which sets us free.
- Maya Angelou