Tom Knight’s Eulogy for Eli

I could never keep up with the motivation he had for his love of hip hop, and for the years that followed, his passion grew stronger. He had the admirable quality to achieve anything he put his mind to.

There were goals in his life he had set for himself and slowly but surely he was achieving them one by one in his own humble way.

Eli had a quality to accept people for what they were – not what they weren’t. He was only ever interested in the good in people.

He was the type of mate that I thoroughly enjoyed introducing to my close family and many groups of friends - as I always knew, and he always did, show the utmost respect - which was an attribute I saw in him from day one.

Eli loved and stuck by his mates no matter what. When a time came when I had to make a career choice, I had to move away from the hip hop scene, which to be honest I thought Eli would become distant, but that was the last thing he ever would have done. He supported my choice and took such a genuine interest in what I was doing which opened up my eyes to how much of a close mate he really was to me. Although we were 2 different guys doing two completely different things with our lives now, he always made a time for us to meet up, have a beer, and have a laugh.

I am just so proud to to have seen how far he had come in his life and the fine young man he had become. He had finally reached a place within himself where he was ready to take on anything the world threw at him, and conquer it in his own Eli style!

Eli had reached his own inner peace and this was evident in more ways than one….. We need not be saddened by what he did not get a chance to accomplish, but to be happy that he accomplished his own journey along this road of life where he was ready to challenge anything that was to come his way.

None of us will ever forget Eli, and from this I have learned from him to appreciate the small things in life, not take them for granted. Eli would not want us to be anguished by his absence, but merely to enjoy each others company todady with our close friends and family  - as he always did.

So from this moment on, not only today, but also in the future, may we all continue to think back and remember the amazing impact Eli had on our individual lives, how he made us laugh and how down to earth Eli really was. We must all be so thankful to have been given a chance to have known the man Eli Westlake.

To his family, Nigel, Jan and Joel, thank you so much for letting me be a close part of Eli’s life. You should be so proud of standing by him and helping him to become the special and unique person he had become.

Thank you to all of Eli’s wonderful friends…..You have all been so very supportive to the Westlake family throughout this time.

Eli….my brother….my mate.

Thank you for all the momentous moments you shared with me……….They will never be lost.

Thank you for being the one I could always confide in, no matter what bothered me…..you always back me up.

I would like to finish off with a quick poem that was given to me.

Death is nothing at all,

I have only slipped into the next room.

I am I…You are you.

Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.

Call me by my old familiar name,

Speak to me in the easy way which you always used,

Put no difference in your tone,

Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow,

Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed.

Play, smile and think of me.

Let my name be ever the household name that it always was.

Let it be spoken without effect, without trace of shadow on it.

Life means all that it ever meant.

It is the same as it ever was, there is unbroken continuity.

Why should I be out of your mind because I am out of sight?

I am waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near

Just around the corner.

All is well.

We will never forget you.

Thank you.

Back to homepage