Phil...
2006-10-16

I was going to write about our sailing weekend, but I guess it will have to wait. I'm leaving early today to go to a funeral for a friend who will be missed.
Phil was one of those guys who got along with everybody. He loved and lived life more than just about anybody I know. Dispite being retired Army, he was an active sailor and loved the water. He fit in where ever he went. He never talked abotu his military career, but he must have done something special during his time there because they are burying him at Arlington National with full honors. Your average smuck doen't get that. Phil was not an average guy so I guess I'm not surprised.
We took him to F1GAW1 once, he'd always wanted to go... The trip over was awful, but he never complained and pitched in and always wore a smile. F1GAW1 is wall to wall partues and we were tying to fix up a newly divorced guy in the crew to try and get him out of his funk. We set him up with several options, but he ended up being the first one back to the boat every night. The guy who didn't return was Phil. He'd got himself invited to a private after hours party and then over to one of the "beach cottages" $$$$$$$ and spent the night. Not bad for a guy who was pushing 70 at he time.
He and his girlfriend of later days always managed to stop by when we were having a party and he was a regular for our 4th of July fireworks cruise. He was at almost all the club functions. He loved to dance, always had a smile on his face and would always stop what he was doing when he saw us to come over to say Hi. He was honestly one of those people you thought would live for ever so it was a shock when we heard Saturday morning that he'd had a stroke and passed on.
I didn't really feel like doing much after that. M.E was pretty upset too, but there wasn't a better way to honor this friend than taking the boat out and trying to do what he would have done, so we did.
I've had so many people close to me die so young that the funerals of the older ones don't usually bother me as much. You can justify that they had a good and long life and that it was their time. This one I think might be different. When somebody so full of life dies, what ever the age, it leaves a hole that never really fills.
I'm not looking forward to this afternoon. After the mass there will be a celebration of his life at the Club and I plan on hoisting a glass in the honor of a man will be missed.

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