Last night was the memorial service for Joe's son and my good friend and co-worker Shane Butler. The service was absolutely incredible and moving. I was given the opportunity to say a few words to the people in attendence. Since the CCL Community is our family, I'd like to post my speech here on CCL in honor of Shane for everyone to read that I gave last night.

My name is Steve Boyd - I worked with Shane at Comic Collector Live for almost 2 years, and came to know him as a friend.

I'd like to start with a short quote from William Shakespeare:
"What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable. In action, how like an angel - in apprehension, how like a god."

In contrast, what a piece of work was Shane. He was many things to many people.
He was brilliant.
He was unlimited talent.
He was a prankster.

There many things that I owe Shane for, and I'd like to name a few of them now:

If not for Shane, I would never have been able to download a workable copy of Adobe Photoshop on my computer.

Because of Shane, the price of potatoes in Sumner and Davidson County rose 10% because Shane drove all over town buying ammo for his potato gun.

If not for Shane, myself and the other employees here would never have known that a beanie baby could achieve almost the same distance and velocity in a potato gun as potato.

Thanks to Shane, I was able to watch a downloaded copy of the second X-Files movie instead of wasting 15 bucks to own it.

Thanks to Shane, I know what "Urban Rodeo" is.

Because of Shane, I always check to make sure I have my cellphone on me at all times.

Because of Shane, I learned that you can remotely shut down someone's laptop from across town.

(and because of that, my firewall and virus protection are better than ever).

Thanks to Shane, I learned that if you need a tool for a job, borrowing it and never returning it is much cheaper than buying tools of your own.

And finally, thanks to Shane, I learned an important aspect about life.

Life is an endless succession of moments and choices; actions and consequences, each effecting the other both directly and indirectly. There are lots of people here who Shane called friends, and there are those of here who called him friend…I say this with the deepest love for my friend I can have, and that is if you truly are Shane's friend you will honor his memory by always remembering that life is fleeting. You live one minute and that's a minute you can never retrieve.

Shane could have been anything in the world he wanted to be. I don't know where his path would have taken him, but I certainly know where he is now. He's in heaven, challenging all the angels to Guitar Hero…so if you're praying for a miracle..and it happens about 2 seconds later than usual. You can thank this young man here.

Shane Butler, you are and always will be my friend. You were loved in life, and you will always be loved. I can't tell Joe and Shelly how sorry I am for their loss, but I can tell you how much your son was liked and respected. Not just by me, but everyone that knew and worked with him.

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Shane Butler 1989-2009

That was incredible, Steve

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words can't touch it

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Well I've said to much again probly stuck my foot in my mouth again but I said it and hey I've got to where I like all of you guys/girls even though some of you are even stranger than me.

Beautiful!

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The All-Star Alliance!

Great speech, really moving

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Very nice and moving words.I never had the pleasure of speaking to him but from your words he sounded like a great guy.

Hey People,

I really want to say how much I appreciate the CCL family during this trying time. Shane often talked about many of you, and he loved helping you. He had a ball with CCL and enjoyed you all so much.

Shane is with Jesus now. Shane gave his life to the Lord at age 5. Served him for most of his life. He made some bad choices in the end, but God does not give up on us just because we make a few poor choices. God is much bigger than that! I'll see him again one day.

Anyway, thanks for your support during this trying time. Just so you know, we are having a meeting next week to get some of the software projects on track, and I will be working with some of the old gang, to get our vision pushed forward for CCL.

Again, thanks folks. This is a tough one, but my faith will carry me through.

Sincerely,

Joe

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Joe Butler
Founder / CEO
Comic Collector Live

The leader should be the person capable of abstract thought!
(From the movie "O' Brother where art thou")

http://www.ComicCollectorLive.com

Joe, this has been a benchmark of pain and loss for you; every tribulation life throws at you will always be compared to this moment. But you will grow stronger each day, and the pain will get less and less. In its place, you can revel in the memories of raising a child into the stalwart young man all of us got to recognize as your son, and we're all a little better for it. Look at all the people he has touched in this forum alone, his influence is obvious, and I'm sure it has spread well beyond the borders of CCL.

Good luck, we'll always be here.

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"I don't think it's a beautiful place, but it does look pretty." - My son, regarding Camelot

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