“ Chuck Laird was a unique man, such a stong man in sooo many ways. I was shocked by his passing, but so very proud of getting to know him.
This is a copy of a recent note sent to a mutual Friend of Chuck's.....
Thanks Adam Watkins for letting me "peek" at your amazing journey with Chuck Laird , your Friend/trainer/brother in ARMS (& all the other muscles) and, no doubt, your mutual battles over heart & brain. I enjoyed observing the amazing progress you both made over the last six years or so (from a safe distance of 90 miles or so thru shared Facebook posts). I thought I had met Chuck for the first time as a student in my Economics class as a 19 y/o sophomore at Copiah-Lincoln CC back in '93. Even then Chuck stood out among his peers...great student, but quietly stood out in so many ways as a not-so-typical college soph! He loved being a fun-loving student outside the classroom with his friends, but had disciplined himself to appear as a well disguised "taker of notes," always with a twinkle in his eyes ?! As a 20 year veteran fun-loving instructor (as well as a former college athlete & seasoned varsity tennis coach), one of my hobbies was attempting to get inside my students minds/hearts. I gave students extra credit for classroom notes which I took up at random a couple of times each semester and the when they took their 2 hr Final Comprehensive Exam! Chuck's notes were neat, well organized & disciplined, but gave me a glimpse at what caused the bright twinkle in his eyes! In addition to his Economics notes, he worked in very detailed notes of his extracurricular activities... weight-training, FUN TIMES, daily/nightly social activities with FRIENDS (it helped me understand more about those ever present TWINKLES in his eyes!).
Chuck transferred to USM in Hattiesburg, finished his degree and launced into opening up his own weight training & fitness center! It didn't take long for him to become a nationally recognized body builder with lots of trophies for the wall!
I was so happy to see how Chuck's life had turned out. Happy to have a "connection" to his young, adult life. This is where Chuck's Story adds an extra twinkle and a twist I did not see coming. I found out that I had already run into Chuck Laird & his adopted family when he was a very young child in my hometown of Natchez! It's very complicated, but my Natchez family were connected to Chuck's adopted family and at one point lived on the same block in the Natchez suburb of Morgantown. By the time Chuck wound up in my 1993 Co-Lin classroom, he was about 20 yrs old and I was 45-ish!
I'm sooo happy that Chuck popped back up in my life and brought sooo many others with him, including his adopted Mom ("Vicky," Carolyn Victoria Strahan Laird) and her entire Family! Thank you Adam Watkins for my opportunity to meet one of Chuck's very best clients and FRIENDS...it was an amazing story that unfortunately ended sooner than we all would have liked! It has taken me 77 yrs to compress my life philosophy to two words: "CONTROL TODAY!" Life should always be lived under CONTROL! Calling on FRIENDS to help you maintain control is a sign of strength, not weakness. Taking a bit of each day to review YESTERDAY & your PAST to help you prep for a better TOMORROW! Whomever came up with that little old sign that says: "FREE BEER TOMORROW!" was a marketing genius! Great to think & learn from your PAST, but you can't stay there! Tomorrow never comes! Live TODAY, every day! Never give up...never, ever give in! ”