Words From the Other Day

Milestone birthdays are tough. You hit 30 or 40 or 50 and you often anguish over getting so old. Well, today, March 26, 2009 is a tough milestone of a different kind because James would have been 40. It really puts in perspective how lucky we are to be alive despite the pain and hassle of life. James wanted to be here so badly. He fought with great courage and through a lot of pain to try and make it to this day. It was weird enough that his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers won the Super Bowl and he was already gone. And now this.
On his 39th birthday some of us gathered at a Mid-East restaurant. It was fairly early in the entire medical battle. I remember saying as I left that the party I really wanted to go to was his next birthday party in a year. By then James would have dealt with this and it would be behind him. I remember being scared about what could happen, but confident thinking how impossibly unjust it would be for this not to work out.
Well, that birthday has arrived and James is gone. I miss the guy. He was one of those big personalities who add a lot to life. The fact that it would have been his 40th birthday really emphasizes what I’ve felt since he died. This was a bad, unfair, tragic deal and James really got screwed. But life can be like that.
Oh well. Happy Birthday, James. You are truly missed.