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| Green Lake 2010 |
On September 1 2016, exactly one year ago today, my
life and the boys lives were forever changed. Not only did they lose an amazing
father, but, I lost my best friend and partner in crime. John and I met in high school, but we didn’t
start dating until after our playing days at UBC. The two of us had a lot of
fun together, mostly because we were as similar as we were different, and could
challenge one another as much as we could support each other. Over the past 20
years as our relationship evolved and changed, we were always able to maintain
the essence of exactly who we were as individuals and who we were as a team. There
were no false pretenses, no guarded walls, and certainly no filters between us.
This is definitely why our relationship worked. We were always real, honest, and
to the point, and we both understood what we wanted, where we saw our family’s
future and how we planned to grow old together. The magnitude of John’s loss and
the void that his death has left us, cracked the very foundation that our lives together
were suppose to be built upon and immediately made me feel like there was no
way that I could possibly recover. Losing John was a horrible and incomprehensible
tragedy of life that everyone who loved him was not prepared to face, yet had
no other choice but to keep on going.
As time moves on, I have come to realize that
it is all the little things that I miss the most about John’s absence, things
that only “your person” in life truly know and understand about you, but love
you anyway. John is deeply missed
everyday, but I feel fortunate to see so much of him in the boys as they are
constant reminders that he has not left us. Jack, Hunter, and Cole you have
shown unbelievable strength and resilience throughout this past year and I know
your dad would be extremely proud of all your accomplishments, despite the
terrible hand you have been dealt. He loved being your dad more then anything
else!
Today we grieve but we will also take the
time to celebrate the life John lived and honor the 41 years he was on this
earth as a father, husband, son, brother, grandson, cousin, uncle, coach and
friend. Take a moment today to have a beer, go for a run, shoot some hoops, call
your friends and family, and appreciate life’s many gifts.
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| Johnny and his boys forever and always! |
