By Kate O’Donnell, Senior Vice President, MarCom & Brand Strategy 

Five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes. 525,000 moments so dear. 525,600 minutes – how do you measure, measure a year?  

These words—lyrics from “Seasons of Love” from the Broadway musical Rent—have played in my head a lot in the last few weeks. It’s been a full year since we lost our friend, our colleague, our heart of the Creative team, Stan Knight. And what a year it’s been. With each world-changing event, I ask myself “What would Stan have to say about this?” Tom Brady leaving the Patriots (Stan’s favorite team) and joining the Tampa Bay Bucs? He’d have a lot to say about that. Everything else I think he’d take in stride, his top priority making sure his family was safe and loved.  

Stan’s family was his everything, and what I admired most about him. His entire face would light up when he talked about some new adventure he’d had with his son Dylan, or share what improvement he’d worked on over the weekend to make his house the “perfect” home for Dylan and his wife Francesca. That was never more apparent than at his memorial service last year—so many friends and family were there to share their stories about what an amazing husband, father, son, brother, and friend he was to everyone.  

Francesca recently showed me a picture of Stan’s newly installed headstone. It was the quintessential representation of Stan, containing a picture from their wedding where he is clearly beaming at her, both a Superman and New England Patriots logo, and the words “Our Knight in Shining Armor Truly Loved, Deeply Missed”. While July 16 will always be a day we remember because we lost him, I will always be grateful for the brief time he brought light, laughter and love to our MCI family.  

 

 

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