Hi all. It's Padme here.
By now, most of you have probably already heard about Roga. I don't quite know
where to start, so I guess I'll just start on August 9th, 2020. I had just started
cooking some eggs and English muffins, when Roga called to my son from our master
bedroom. My son came into the kitchen and grabbed some aspirin from the cupboard.
When the eggs had finished cooking, Roga came into the kitchen and said, "I wasn't
feeling very well this morning, but I'm feeling much better now. Whatcha making? And where's mine?"
And I said, "You don't even like over-hard eggs! I can make you some over-easy eggs."
And he said dejectedly, "It's all right. I can make my own."
That caused me to stop for a second, and I almost insisted on doing it for him, but
that stupid yard work needed to be done. And so I quickly ate and left to work on the yard with my son.
He was going to edge while I mowed, but I couldn't even finish mowing. My son was like,
"Mom, you forgot that side."
And I said, "No, I have to go inside." So, he said, "Fine," and he took the lawnmower
to finish the yard. But he asked me, "How am I going to get in when I finish?"
Well, we have previously lost two lawn mowers due to them being stolen, and one had been
left outside for less than 5 minutes! So, I told him that he could have the garage
door opener that I had clipped to my pants. And he said, "Nah, I'm good." So I said, "I
could open the door for him."
So I sat on the stairs by the master bedroom for awhile. I had thought that maybe
Roga had gone upstairs to play Sloth or something. But I did notice the dishwasher
going - Roga had filled up the dishwasher and was doing the dishes for me. And well,
you have to understand, this is like a rare occurrence for Roga, and so that simple act
was like him doing something special for me. And I actually thought this, and I also
thought that he couldn't really be that sick if he was doing the dishes!
Eventually I went into the garage, opened the garage door, and waited for my son.
Soon, Roga came into the garage. And I asked him, "What are you doing here?" And Roga
told me that [our son] had asked him to open the garage door. And I said, "How?"
"He knocked on the front door." And I said, "But I have already opened the garage door."
And he said, "Yeah, but [our son] doesn't know that."
And as my son was coming around to the back of the house, I started to move toward him, and Roga, flicked the garage door opener. You know, like he made it come down a little bit and then back up.
And I turned to him and said, "Now he's going think" and Roga just started laughing.
He was still laughing when my son and I came to him and were about to go into the house.
He laughingly said, "You should have seen your mom. She had a conniption fit. She thought
that I was going to close the garage door on her."
And I said, "I did not." But I am forever grateful that my son knocked on that door,
and that Roga came out to the garage, cuz this was the last time that I got to hear Roga
laugh.
I had to lay down. I get so fatigued way to easily these days - and it's not just tired. It's
like truly, exhausting, bone-tired. I might have laid down for 3 or 4 hours, but I had
to get up when I started to feel like it was getting a little difficult to breath -
smoke does that to me. And so I went downstairs, and Roga was cooking chicken thighs in
the oven. And I said, "Could you please tell me when you cook in the oven next time? So I can shut
the door to my room upstairs, cuz the smoke from the oven just goes right into my room."
And Roga said, "You can smell the smoke from the oven? Riiight." And the timer went off,
and I said, "Oh, is the chicken done already?" And he said, "No." And as I turned to leave
to go back upstairs, I heard him say, "Maybe I'll broil them for 10 minutes."
This was the last time I saw Roga alive. My son would take me up two chicken thighs that
my husband had cooked just for me - because I still am not used to spicy food. And
both he and my son love spicy foods. Roga, who doesn't often cook for me, had made
me our last meal together (even though we ate our meals in separate rooms. But Roga
had taken the time to make mine).
After eating, I rested some more and around 7 pm,
I went outside to mow the backyard and to try and cut the weed bushes. I bagged up the dog poop,
finished the mowing, and cut a few of the weed bushes before I started feeling nauseous.
I asked my son to open the garage door so that I could put the lawnmower away. When he
was ready to shut the garage door, he asked if he could let the dog out back. And I said,
"Sure." So, I started to lock the back gate, but then I remembered the bagged dog poop. So I
just grabbed it and threw it in the driveway, because I was afraid that I
couldn't make it to the garbage can and back inside the gate before my son let the
dog out. And if I didn't, the dog would have a chance to escape - and when that happens,
he quickly runs a half mile away easily, and it usually takes a team effort to get him
back home again.
Anyway, I just went upstairs and laid down. I don't remember exactly what time I
actually fell asleep. But I was awaken before 4 am by the tv in the master bedroom.
Soon, I went to check on Roga and found him dead.
And so, you know about as much as I do, and I still haven't been told the cause of death.
I've known Roga for 28 years and have been married to him for 26 of those years. I have
known Roga through The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (incidentally, that was a movie he
liked to watch). Here's what some of his coworkers said about the real life Roga:
[Roga] was really, really smart, always optimistic, and really sure that they were going
to win a proposal or program. [Roga] was very friendly. Instead of telling you, he would show
you. He was a well-rounded guy. He was always ready to help and would take the effort to help.
Our two daughters and son have often seen Roga playing Sloth, but they don't understand our
love for the game. So now I have a request for all of you. Could you write something about
Roga? Maybe why you like grouping with him or maybe tell about the time he helped you get
that piece of equipment or spellbook? Or maybe how somehow he made the game special for
you? Or I don't know - just come up with something.
I'm seriously sleep deprived over here and am starting to lack the ability to even think!
Thanks all,
Padme.