Our hearts go out to all of you. Come Lord Jesus, bring your peace and healing touch to this hurting family.
Breath your perfect breath into Allen. Love to all, Kathy and Phil Gatto
I am so sorry to hear of the accident and of the struggle you are all going through. Alan is one of the most wonderful people I have met and I just love him and Jill. Julie has been doing much of the communicating so I have been kept up to date via her correspondence. I woke up at 2:30 a.m., and could not stop thinking of Alan so I though I would make you all join me in my insomnia and tell you the story of how I met Alan.
It was in the 90's, can't remember the exact year, and I was interviewing for the Vice President of IT at a bank data center. My interview was with someone I had worked with before and the job was basically mine and the interview, just a formality. Going through the interview, I had the question "Tell me a little about the staff". As I was told about the staff, one by one, we came to Alan and I was told that one of the 1st things I would have to do is fire him. He was related to the owner so it could be a little challenging but he would need to go. I had a reputation of doing what was needed to ensure the IT department ran well so they knew I would do what was needed. However, I was uncomfortable with this request at the start of the job and I said, the only way I could take the job was if I could evaluate Alan and his abilities and, with a clean slate, do my evaluation, and then decide what to do, and that management would have to accept my decision. It was agreed upon and I took the job.
Part of my starting any job was to sit down with each employee individually and get to know them a little. I sat down with Alan and I could see early on that he was quite intelligent and there was no blatant reason that would make me suspect he was a troublemaker. As time went on, Alan would go out on work assignments and sometimes not come back the rest of the day. It was a little strange and had me a little concerned. I sat Alan down and I asked him what was going on. The job Alan was in was the most mundane job in the department. Crawling under desks, unplugging and plugging in hardware and doing simple software loads. I already knew by talking to Alan that he was extremely intelligent and I figured he was quite bored in his current position.
I was in the process of adding some security appliances at the data center and it was quite detailed, complex IT work. Banks were just getting spooked about threats, and security was the number one concern, from an IT perspective. My 1st thought was Alan. I needed a super "nerd" to take on such a challenging task. Alan used to call himself IT God, so I knew I had the right guy. So here, instead of firing him, I promoted him and gave him the most critical job in the department. Of course, it was one of the best decisions I had ever made. Alan was so good that after I left the company, I hired Alan again and again as I worked for other businesses. I hired him for a large contract I had in Arizona and after him and Jill, and Julie and I moved to AZ, I hired him again.
Throughout all this, Julie and I found two of the most amazing people and great friends we had ever met. We moved back to Minnesota but it was always a highlight to see Alan and Jill when we visited our home away from home, Arizona.
We love you both. You are in our prayers and we are sending lots of love and hope. Please let us know if there is anything we can do. We are just 3 hours away and could be there in a heartbeat.
Heart crushing to read this update. I will say another prayer tonight for a miracle and some sort of sign of improvement. Sending love, peace and continued healing prayers..
I’m sending every ounce of positive energy I have to Alan. Much love and gratitude. Alan is a good man and I remain hopeful that the good he’s given to his family and friends will come back to him in his most crucial time of need. My love to all of you.
I'm sorry. I can't think of anything else/more to say.
As I read this update I cried. I had to come back and reread it.
My heart is heavy and hurts for all of you.
Again, I am sorry.
I am just sick to read the update! 😞 We have been praying for some good news, as i know you have. We will continue to believe in miracles. They happen, one must for Alan! All my love to Jill and Alan’s entire family. ❤️
Breath your perfect breath into Allen. Love to all, Kathy and Phil Gatto