July 7, 1986 – August 10, 2012
August 10, 2012 - Today the physical world lost a golden heart. In memory of my husband and my best friend, Edmund Kaupe, I will miss you, never forget you, and know you’re always here with me.
I love you forever and always.
During his final weeks and days Edmund was surrounded by family and friends that he had touched in much more than a small way.
This is the story of Edmund Kaupe – also called Eddy’s Story.
Eddy was supposed to tell this story to the world himself. I promised him that if he lost his battle, I would tell the story for him. This promise, to tell his story, I am keeping.
The story begins with Eddy telling me about his mother Linda’s death. Eddy said that when he lost his mom, he lost his family. After Linda’s death, there was only him and his sister. Eddy was taken in a by a family who were not blood-related and already had a family of their own. Others, who Eddy believed to be his family, came around with negative intentions. As Eddy watched this go on, he lost his beliefs. The belief in faith, in being united as a family and the belief in love, became non-existent to him. All he started to see was greed and hatred. This made him very ill.
He was lucky to find a loving family that took him in and gave him the love and the support he needed. This was Mim and Jim (Lisa & Jim). After the death of his mother, Eddy said that this was his new family. Mim and Jim, as everyone knows them, already had a family of their own. Yet they took him in, despite not having the room or the financial means to support another person. They showed Eddy what family means, shared a home, meals and many laughs together.
A little while later he found a young woman, Saskia, who gave him love and another family that welcomed him with a big heart and arms wide-open. This was our family. It was a shock to us when he told us about his mother passing away and how the people that were his family treated him so poorly. Lastly he told us that he had stage-4 terminal cancer.
Understandably, Eddy lost his focus and his faith again. Through unconditional love and help from the love of his life, his wife Saskia and her family, he regained his focus and beliefs and started to fight his battle strongly.
A few weeks before he went home to be in the arms of his loving mother, Eddy asked me for help and answers.
Eddy asked: “Why is my family, my actual family, not here with me? Why don’t they come to help like the others? Why do only those people care who gave me a new life? And why don’t those people that call themselves my aunts, uncles and my sister care? Why do I need to go just now? Why do I need to go?”
At the same time Eddy said “Saskia is the love of my life. Saskia’s mother Vera is my mother too. Saskia’s father Detlef, is my father too. And I have a new sister, Nadja”.
It was difficult to listen to a person like Eddy. He was crying and asked me why he had to leave and explaining that he hadn’t accomplished anything in this life yet. Eddy said he had only just learned to forgive those who had done him wrong after his mom had passed. I am 52 years old and needed to take a deep breath when listing to a young person speak like this.
This is what I told Eddy:
“Ed, you made it this far. From what I hear from you, you do not see what you have learned in the last 4 years in our home. You are not dead. You are still with us. You still show that you have energy and that you are fighting the cancer. You came into our home with hate in your heart. Then you learned to forgive those you hated. You found many shoulders you could lean on, by those who love you and will always love you.
I am a person born with clairvoyance, and a long time ago I gave up my beliefs too. I believed that I could not find people with “pure hearts”. Most of the people I have seen have been people with greed and hate or those who love money more than themselves. I moved to Canada with the hope that it would be a better world. Well, it is. Here I have found more people with hearts. But still not what I was looking for. I stopped searching here too. There are only a few people that tell me interesting stories about myself. I have never, ever found a person like you. Today, I know that I was your mentor. But I found a teacher. This teacher was you Ed. You taught me and showed me that I had found the person I had been looking for... I found that person in you! There is no greed, no hate, just pure love for your wife, your family and the family you found.
We all started by teaching you, but in the end you showed us your real face. You showed us that you were a pure-hearted, honest and loving person. You would do anything for your wife and your family. You gave me back my beliefs by being a son with a pure heart and love. I feel honored. You actually gave the world what most people have lost a long time ago – a heart, love and honesty. The sense of being human!
Today, have a look what people actually are doing. A loving couple is walking side-by-side down the road and all they do is text side-by-side. If you go into a restaurant, you see people, young and old, that do not talk to each other. They are texting, not talking. People do not go to the forest anymore. They have lost the purpose of their spirituality. All you can see around you are people who love power, money and computers. People believe and think that they “know it all” but all they care about is money and greed. Spirituality and humanity are being lost. But there are people who are asking the same questions as I did 30 years ago. There are people searching for what you accomplished and what you learned. You Ed, you are the true teacher of this. You were pure at heart and found a way of being still human in an inhuman world. The credit is yours Edmund Kaupe. This is the real you, who you were and are. This is Eddy. Please tell this story to the world and tell it to others so they can learn from it too. They can learn to find the same things you found – true love, a pure heart, honesty, humanity and most importantly: the sense of belonging, family and the real meaning of love.”
When I finished, Eddy looked at me and asked if this was true? He did not take a break, but spoke: “It is only now that I see and understand”. This same day he also asked me if he was to lose his battle and die, would I tell his story for him? I told him that I would finish his work by telling the world the great story of Edmund “Eddy” Kaupe so that others could learn from his life. This was my promise to him.
Edmund Kaupe left us unexpectedly on Friday, August 10th, 2012. He was 26 years young. In our hearts Eddy will always be with us. His accomplishments will be sent around the world. People ask what happened with Edmund Kaupe. If you do not understand it, read Eddy’s story again and again and again until you do understand it. To get you there faster, the faster way to spirituality. We have all lost our way. There are only a few people left in this world that can teach you to find your way back to spirituality. It will help you to leave cell phones, TVs and computers turned off at home. Do something with your family, even tell Eddy’s story. It’s a good start.
Every father, every mother, every child, every animal and every bird has a story to tell. This is what Eddy taught me. This is what he learned with a simple family helping him to find his way.
Edmund said: “Thank you to my loving wife Saskia. My dogs Boo and Lucky.
Thank you Vera, Detlef and Nadja.
Thank you Lisa, Jim, James and Carley
Thank you to Anja and Michael
Thank you to Doctor Guenter Klein”
True friends came to his side when he needed them, even just to say hello: Andrew, Terry, Claudia, Jennifer & Kyle, Simon, Libby & Chris, Karen & Andy. Also a thank you goes to Sanchatu, Felix, Anna, Papa Sanchatu, Benji and Leo. Eddy also told me that he had forgiven his family, the family he never really had, and hoped that they will reunite as a family again. He also asked the medical system to listen and to open up to those that can teach spirituality and those that can heal with spirituality, reiki.
This is the story of Edmund Kaupe. He would have loved to tell the world his story himself.
Thank you, on behalf of Eddy and the promise I made to tell this story.
Thank you,
Detlef Recktenwald
Eddy is survived by his loving wife Saskia, his parents Vera & Detlef Recktenwald, Lisa & Jim Rice, his siblings Nadja Recktenwald and James & Carley Rice, and special friends Andrew, Terry, Claudia, Jennifer & Kyle, Simon, Libby & Chris and Karen & Andy.
No public service will be held at this time. Edmund’s wish was to only have a small service with close friends and family at a later time.
In lieu of flowers and cards, donations can be mailed to Toneff Funeral Services
PO Box 3774, Courtenay BC, V9N 7P1