On February 9th 1984, Patrick and Eileen Truman welcomed a chubby cheeked little boy whom they named Lenell Nesta Truman. Quincy & Simone are now big bro and big sis to an inquisitive and curious little dude who they nickname is Boo-Boo, but not before becoming big bro and big sis for the final time to a cute cheeked little girl named Jameela Eileen Truman who they nickname Mee-Mee. My dad’s mum granny, and our god-mothers/cousins Denise and Lori helped raise us while mum and dad worked full time. The next six years are filled with playtime with friends and family plus plenty of worldly adventures wherever Patrick and Eileen wanted to go.
April 10, 1990, Simone welcomed a chubby cheeked little boy whom she named Charles Nathaniel Hall III. Quincy, Lenell, and I became uncles and I became an aunt for the first time, having no clue what those expectations and responsibilities are, so Charles is essentially our little bro. Lenell’s loving and caring nature plus fascination with science and technology is highlighted by one Saturday afternoon when he came into Mum and Dad’s room crying, “Johnny Five died.” Our childhood was filled with amazing trips and we often went to London to stay at Nanny’s house where Nanny, Aunty Doreen, Uncle Noel and Aunty Mina spoiled us. Playing at Nanny’s with our cousins Charlotte, Collete, Naomi, Cami, Luke, Joe, Sam, Dawn, Melissa, Becky, Oliver & Sam and Uncle Dez’s very colourful language while driving around the busy streets of London are fond memories of our time in London. We also spent plenty of time with Martin, Vevette, Marvin, Tony, & Shiobhan. We also ventured to Ghana, Guyana, Barbados, Jamaica, The Virgin Islands plus many more places for family vacations.
Lenell and I started our elementary education at Butler Montessori school and what an incredible first few years of learning that was. This was also the time where Lenell’s love and care for animals truly began, but not to outshine his incredibly inquisitive mind which he got to further develop at Strawberry Knoll Elementary and Gaithersburg Middle School. During this time Quincy was off studying at Morgan State where he met Taskeen, who later on became our first Sister-in-Law. It was awesome having a bonus sister who would buy us cool things and take us on fun adventures.
Lenell’s mind often explored and wandered and the public school system could no longer provide the best education that could accommodate such a curious soul. Patrick and Eileen did an extensive amount of research to find the best educational fit for Lenell was at a place called the Lab School of Washington. While I was a little sad I couldn’t ride the school bus with my big bro anymore, seeing that beacon of light in Lenell shine so bright with tales of what adventures he got up to David, Peter, and Sam was amazing. After many adventures with the lab school bros and uncertainty of what the future held, David and Lenell ventured off to Barry University in Florida.
After a short-lived attempt at University life, Lenell came back to Maryland. Trader Joe’s was a brand new store to the area and Lenell applied. This is where he met Nick and Chris who are fellow gamers and that is how he met Jamie. After some time at Trader Joe’s, Lenell wanted to try his hand at telecommunications at Verizon, which is also where my dad, known as PT, worked. As PT’s son, it was confirmed that another hard working and determined man was becoming part of the Verizon family. Lenell found it truly incredible that he not only got to work alongside his dad, but his Dad’s best friend Carl who he nicknamed Dad 2.0. Verizon is also the place where Lenell met Sam Phillips and over the years they created a special brotherhood called, “Camp No Ma’am.”
Distance has never been an issue for Lenell, having his little sis study at Penn State. During my senior year, Simone, Quincy, Lenell and I became aunts and uncles for the 2nd and 3rd time to our 2nd nephew Khairi and our first and only niece Paris. Unbeknownst to me while enjoying his gamer life, Lenell had a budding relationship with a beautiful, sweet, kind and caring soul who we all know is Angela. When Angela met the fam for the first time, I remember Quincy in his protective big bro way, walked up, arms crossed, and Angela introduced herself and politely offered to shake hands, succeeded in breaking Q’s jokingly hard exterior and gave a big ol’ Quincy loves you very much hug. This was the beginning of several years of successfully navigating a long distance relationship, between the east coast and west coast, filled with adventures alongside Michelle, Buddy, Brandon, Lucius and Athena with many alternating Christmases, Thanksgivings, 4th of July weekends, and beach trips. During this time Lenell purchased his first home.
November 2010, Mum and Dad flew down to Sydney to watch me graduate from the University of Sydney. Whilst leaving the airport with the luggage trolley, a 6'2" solid black dude aggressively bumped into me but to my huge surprise was Lenell. The next two weeks were filled with awesome adventures where Lenell manages to win two big lucky door prizes, and the Sydney locals couldn’t be mad at such an awesome dude with an infectious laugh.
December 2012, with Lenell’s help, I managed to Surprise Mum, Dad and Q when I snuck home for the holidays. At the same time, the love of Lenell’s life was packing up her life and moving cross country to be with the love of her life and their first dog Dizzy. Also during this short trip home for the holidays, with the guidance from Mum and Dad, and support of Taskeen and Quincy, I had to make the most difficult telephone call of my life, unsure of exactly what was going on, but knew our bro needed help. Quincy kept Angela updated, and the rest of us took care of the house and Dizzy. Unsure of what situation she was moving into, Angela continued on driving cross country. A true testament to just how much she loved that man, Angela moved in to begin the next chapter of a beautiful journey. That takes a strong, determined, and beautiful soul to help someone navigate an uncertain and challenging journey. Lenell was eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder and Angela stayed by his side while helping him navigate their new way of life.
Over the next few years, Lenell and Angela created a beautiful home, made new friends, continued to nurture old friendships, and were an amazing aunt and uncle. Lenell becomes an uncle for the 4th time to Rome and is the godfather to James. Lenell is also an honorary uncle-big adult goofy best friend Little Dude, Emma, Luke, Alicia, Evie, Irene, and to the children of heaps of other friends.
Late May 2015, is the happiest day of my life. I was unaware that Lenell convinced Angela to take her first international flight to Sydney. I was also unaware that he reached out to friends in Sydney to surprise me for my 30th Birthday. Another surprise adventure to Australia concluded with the elopement of Angela and Lenell in Fiji, where I was fortunate enough to witness just how much Angela and Lenell truly loved each other.
The next 9 years was filled with Lenell continuing his new career at Holy Cross Hospital in the IT department, adventures with friends, and the first Truman family reunion where we could hang out with Aunty Gloria, Aunty Pat, Uncle Rocky, Uncle Ben and Aunty Jeanette, our cousins Marcus, Marcie, Melissa, Marcia, Shammy, Kevin, Matthew, Jordan, Jazzy, Lori, Andre, Malia, Cayla, Bryce, and Vaughn. The following year we welcomed Quincy’s fiancé Jojo and her son Gabe into our lives at Marcus and Tiara’s wedding. Lenell regularly spent time with the lab school bros and Camp No Ma’am. Other hobbies included gaming, collecting magic the gathering cards, paintball, road trips, golf, vacations, hunting, old fashions, trips to Hershey Park or Kings Dominion, World of Warcraft, fortnight, Pokémon go, and the list could go on.
Lenell loved life and would go out of his way to lift people up. His booming, goofy, and infectious laugh could light up the room. The grieving process will be challenging for most but I hope it gives all of us bitter sweet comfort that he’s no longer in agonising pain and is at peace. There will always be a special place in all of our hearts that were lucky enough to be touched by a soul that was way too kind for this world.
- “The grief will remain with us until we pass. I hope this grief stays with me because it’s all the unexpressed love I didn't get to tell him.” - Andrew Garfield
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