Friday, October 9, 2009

A Tragic Loss

This afternoon someone who treated me as if I was his own son was taken from us far too soon. Jim Sr. was a role model for anyone who wanted to know what it meant to be an outstanding husband and father.

I grew up with a father who was on the road Monday - Friday, and it meant the world to me to know that I could head over to my friend's house and his dad would be there to watch the big game, shoot hoops with us, or talk to us about life. He was the coolest "un-cool" dad you could have ever met!

The world lost a truly great person today who touched many lives. Here's to you, Jim. I will miss you dearly.

2 comments:

Dan said...

Well stated. I didn't know the man as well as you did, but last weekend he and his wife offered their home to us as a welcoming place to stay on Halloween. Warm, wonderful people.

I feel like I knew him better than I did, though, because I have gotten to know his son, and theirs was a model father/son relationship. Those NBA games may be the most wonderful examples of father/son love imaginable.

bigsmithdude said...

thanks for beating me to the punch on this one, ESL. if it helps, i am confident that big jim thought of us as his own kids. i will always treasure how he would enter a room where we were all hanging out, and lovingly acknowledge us..."girls." i will miss that...

have you ever known anyone that truly was a friend to all, and an enemy to none? if ever there was such a man, it was him. what a tragic loss for so many people in so many different communities.

 

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