Every day is a great day until you miss one, happy fathers....
Father’s Day.
A day of appreciation for us dads. All the texts, emails, calls, and FB messages we get from people who care.
Some dads have huge parties and celebrations thrown, an appreciation day.
As a dad, for me, it doesn’t hit the same anymore.
A young man with a bright future looking forward to what’s to come.
What do I wanna do when I get older?
What kind of experiences will I have?
Where will I be working?
When am I going to start a family?
What lies ahead?
In his final year of college asking questions and not knowing.
He’s overcome more adversity in his short life on this tiny rock in space than most would if they lived 3 lifetimes.
Born with a bad heart with his name etched onto a waiting list for years not knowing if he’ll make it.
Will they ever find a heart?
Not being able to play outside all day as a kid.
Not being able to play sports.
Being poked and prodded for years. In and out the hospital to the point where he dreaded goin in, even if it was for a checkup.
Then, the day comes.
Years of being on the list of hope are finally over. They have a heart.
A wave of emotion hits, hits us all. We can finally exhale.
The surgery is a success. The final exhale, his body isn’t rejecting the heart and he’s beyond excited. As he should be. We all are.
Time passes. He’s gained weight and looks healthy.
He’s having normal experiences that college kids should have.
Traveling, gaming, spending time with friends and family. He’s not wasting any of his time complaining about anything. He’s living every day like it’s his last.
We’re all looking forward to that walk down the aisle.
But not as much as him. Kid’s gonna be a rockstar in whatever he does, after what he’s been through, how could he not, right?
In September of 2019, my girlfriend gets a phone call from her mom.
I’m sleeping. After a night of tending bar, us night creatures like to sleep in as much as we can.
I feel a nudge… “Mike, wake up.” I could hear a shakiness in her voice like a death rattle.
I come to immediately, somethings not right, I feel it.
“J____’s dead” …
There’s a humming sound in my ears. Tinnitus amplified.
What do I wanna do when I get older?
What kind of experiences will I have?
Where will I be working?
When am I going to start a family?
What lies ahead?
In his final year of college asking questions and not knowing doesn’t matter anymore.
He won’t get to experience the second chance at life he was given.
My brothers first born, his only son, my nephew, gone.
A life altering experience I’m not able to articulate except to say that life is finite.
An experience that leaves me, his uncle, with no excuses not to go after what I want.
You have no excuses to not go after what you want and live every day like it’s your last.
None of us may get a second chance at life like J did.
Every day is a great day until you miss one.
Mike “Live Like Chief” Downs