As difficult as this is for me I am honored today to have the opportunity to speak about my friend Christopher Panatier. When I was gathering my thoughts, I was thinking about who was Chris Panatier?

Chris was first and foremost an incredible man, with morals and values so true; we could all have learned from him. Chris was a loving and caring husband to his beautiful wife Carolyn. He was also incredible lucky to have met the love of his life at such an early age. Together they created a wonderful home.

Chris was an all-knowing dad to his children Annie and Christopher. He was always ready to play games, dance silly or read them a story. Chris was a loving son and brother always bringing joy and always there to lend a hand. Chris was a dear friend who could make you laugh without saying a word. Chris had such a unique and wonderful sense of humor. A special trait few possess and one of the many things that will be sorely missed. Chris was also sensitive enough to be the first one to ask if you needed anything during a trying time. He would be there in a second to help out in anyway he could. Chris embraced everyone. He never judged anyone and he always saw the good in people. People would gravitate to him and wanted to be with him.

Wherever Chris was, then that was the place to be. One of the many reasons for this was, for anyone that knew Chris, knew he told a great story. His stories were legendary and from knowing his father, I'm sure Chris inherited this trait from him. Chris would tell a story and not leave out a single detail. These stories took on a life of their own, he would be so animated, laughing through half of it, and using different voices to really paint the picture. I'm not quite as patient as he was, and most of the time I'd be trying to guess the endings or tell him to move it along. He'd always say, "Wait, Wait!" By the time the story ended, I was glad I waited because the endings were, for the most part, worth the wait. Man, I'd gladly sit through one of those stories now, and I wouldn't interrupt him once.

He was also one of the most loyal people I know. Make no mistake, he would use his witty style to goof around, sometimes at your expense, but he was never mean spirited about it and he always knew just how far to go. He did it with a certain style that would actually have you laughing.

Again, anyone who knew Chris also knew how much he loved to play hockey. He was a born hockey player. Strong, bold and tough. I've always admired his dedication and commitment to his sport and his team. I did think he was a little crazy, playing games at 10 o'clock at night, 45 minutes from home, when he had to get up at 5am for work the next morning. But that was Chris. Those were details that he didn't concern himself with. He never let those details stop him from doing anything. That's one of the many great lessons I've learned from him. Chris knew how to live life with no bounds- and he lived.

In his short life Chris lived life to the fullest. He was always up for anything. He traveled with his hockey team to Canada and Las Vegas, or anywhere else they might have gone. He was always the first one in for a golf trip or a trip to the super bowl. Unfortunately, there were many times he did this without consulting with Carolyn first. But that was Chris, jump in first and ask later.

He and Carolyn were also adventurous enough not to let a great opportunity pass them by, so they decided to move to Japan for a year so Chris could work in his company's Tokyo offices. What a great experience that must have been? Thanks to Chris and Carolyn and that move, we were able to have one of the greatest going away parties anyone has ever seen. Some of my memories of that party are still a little fuzzy. I'm sure you know what I mean.

His sense of adventure was sometimes reckless but always amusing to his friends. He's the only guy I know that would ride a jet ski 50 mph. Try to stay on as he turned the handle as hard as he could, he'd fly off, doing 3 flips into the air, land in the water then get up moaning saying how bad that hurt, and then he'd try it again. He tried three more times and failed every time. We all thought he was crazy, but to this day I still laugh out loud when I think about that time.

His zeal for a good time was evident just 2 months ago when a bunch of us went to Hershey Park with our families. While some of us watched all the kids, Chris, my wife Christine and our friends Ed & Susan went on this dueling roller coaster together. They were like kids with Chris leading the way. They loved the ride so much that they went on twice without telling anyone. We were looking all over for them. Later, Christine told me how hysterical it was that she and Chris would put their hands in the air on the straight part, but as soon as a turn came they grabbed on for dear life. Realizing what they both had done, they both looked at each other and just started cracking up. So much for trying to look cool. It is amazing though, whenever you were with Chris, you were always smiling or laughing. Especially with his laugh, it was infectious. In our circle of friends, Chris was a trend-setter and a leader, who was never concerned about what people thought of him. A small case in point, a few of us did this Adventure Race last year. We needed helmets for the bike portion of the race. Chris didn't have a bike helmet, so instead of going out and getting one, he just wore his hockey helmet. We of course dished him much abuse for that one, but everyone in the race just looked at him and kind of smiled. Actually it was a good thing he wore that hockey helmet. During the race I got lost but was able to spot my team later on because of Chris's hockey helmet. We were going to do the race again this year and Chris said he was going to buy us all hockey helmets. I wish he could be here to do that.

His leadership skills were apparent also that day. We were in the last leg of the race, the run/hike portion, and we were exhausted. We were trying to find our way, and we were all looking to Chris to make the final decision on which way to turn. He was so confident in his decisions that we all followed. Of course we got terribly lost, going about 5 miles out of the way. We were so lost we actually hitchhiked back to the finish line. I'm proud to say that we were the only team to finish the race by car that day. But, in the end that didn't matter, what mattered was the camaraderie that we felt. The fact that Chris was there makes that memory even sweeter for me now. Chris may not be here in body, but pieces of Chris will always live on. When we see his son Christopher, who is only 4 but already proficient and skating, we will think of Chris. When we see his daughter Annie dancing across the living room, we will think of Chris. When were together with our friends, I know someone will undoubtedly say, "What would Chris have said?" or "What would Chris have done?" Those statements alone will cause a pause, and we'll all reflect for a second on what he would have said or done, and even though he won't be here, he'll still be able to make us smile. I take some comfort in that. We've all learned a lot from our time with Chris. Now it's our obligation to carry his legacy on. September 11, 2001 will always be remembered as the day the World Trade Center and our country was attacked, but for me it will be remembered as the day I lost my best friend. So my friend, till we meet again, please watch over us and give us the strength to laugh when we want to cry and the courage to carry on when we want to quit.

Thank you for being my friend. I LOVE YOU!