His father was a doctor with whom I worked for many years. He never gave up on teaching the rest of us about public health. But this is not about him. It's about his son James, AKA Spike. Dude was a serious high school football star who had a chance to walk on at UTK but never did. That's a whole 'nother story.
I had a crush on him from about high school on. At every reunion he was the one who got a kiss on the mouth and a picture to prove it. His kindness knew no bounds. I have no idea how he knew but the day after I had RTC surgery #1 he showed up with McDonald's and we ate breakfast on the porch.
Every year I got a Christmas card which was probably Dana's doing but it kept me up with Tanner's growth. He's in college now and an avid duck hunter like his dad. Spike always called Dana "his bride." By trade he was an accountant but he never hesitated to answer a call from me no matter what and periodically rang me up just to chat. I will miss that a lot.
He was also a mountain climber back in the day, very active and adventurous. As it turned out he traded in Wall Street for private practice. Good move. I started this post knowing that he had only days to live, and received word this morning that he has passed on to heaven.
The Tim McGraw song "Humble and Kind" reminds me so much of Spike because that's exactly who he was. He never wavered in loyalty to his friends, family and doing the next right thing. There are a lot of folks grieving over his passing, including me. Some souls are just special, and he was one of them.
Rest in Peace dear friend. I will always love you dearly.
^j^
I had a crush on him from about high school on. At every reunion he was the one who got a kiss on the mouth and a picture to prove it. His kindness knew no bounds. I have no idea how he knew but the day after I had RTC surgery #1 he showed up with McDonald's and we ate breakfast on the porch.
Every year I got a Christmas card which was probably Dana's doing but it kept me up with Tanner's growth. He's in college now and an avid duck hunter like his dad. Spike always called Dana "his bride." By trade he was an accountant but he never hesitated to answer a call from me no matter what and periodically rang me up just to chat. I will miss that a lot.
He was also a mountain climber back in the day, very active and adventurous. As it turned out he traded in Wall Street for private practice. Good move. I started this post knowing that he had only days to live, and received word this morning that he has passed on to heaven.
The Tim McGraw song "Humble and Kind" reminds me so much of Spike because that's exactly who he was. He never wavered in loyalty to his friends, family and doing the next right thing. There are a lot of folks grieving over his passing, including me. Some souls are just special, and he was one of them.
Rest in Peace dear friend. I will always love you dearly.
^j^
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