In past years, today would have been an awesome day. Sure, we'd both have to work, but we both knew what was in store for us after work - drinks (Crown Royal for Newman, Beer or Jack Daniel's for me) and dinner either at Santora's or Nikki Lee's. After that, we'd most likely head to the nearest PT's for a few too many games of GoldenTee and some more drinks.
However, this is not past years. As many of you know, Tom passed away on September 16th. The picture above was the last time I saw him and the last time we spoke was via e-mail the following July. I regret that working together caused some friction between the two of us, especially once he went out on leave and the way he ended up leaving town left a little bitter taste with both Keds and I. That didn't change how I felt about him. It was more of an annoyance.
I find myself thinking about him more and more lately. Mostly because it's baseball season. Tom was an avid Braves fan. It would annoy him to no end that the Braves aren't on TBS that much anymore. After baseball came football, as we both were huge Bills fans. I occasionally feel guilty for not being a better friend, but the reality is that he pulled away as he got more sick and was in increasing amounts of pain. His communication was more erratic, I'm sure partially because of the amount of pain but also because of the way things were going with Slash for him.
Tom would have been 33 today. That is simply just far too young to die. I take some solace that he was in a lot of pain, having endured double hip replacement, a shoulder replacement and had some back problems along with the severe asthma that plagued him his whole life. He is in a better place now. I'll do a shot of Crown for you tonight...
5 comments:
Sorry to hear about Tom's untimely death. It sounds like he had a very difficult time of it with his health. I like to complain with my issues and this gives me a reason to remember that there are many others who have it worse.
Enjoy that shot, and I'm sure you'll remember many more of the good times.
I think that is one of the good things about having good friends. They help us want to be better people. You were a great friend to Tom and I think he is looking down saying the same thing. =)
Gone but not forgotten...
Happy B-Day Tommy!
D
I agree with Jennifer. He's probably looking down smiling with his own shot. I remember him vividly from the wedding, he was vibrant and I would never have guessed he was suffering so much. Happy Birthday, Tom.
I am glad to know he is being remembered by many. I think about him everyday.
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