Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Sail On, Jim
Grampa Jim and Brooklyn flying their colors on the 4th of July.
The Crime Dog extended family has a collective broken heart today.
This world was a better place with people like Jim in it. Though I only knew him a few years, I had great admiration for him. My kid, the fetching Bo, married his kid, Joe E, and our worlds joined together in a way I'll always cherish. It was my honor to know him, and to have him as a part of my life. Good, decent, hardworking, honest, and caring men, men who honor their families, seem almost a scarce commodity these days. But Jim was one of them. Tough, yet tender.
For the past five months, Jim and I shared that most precious of life's gifts - a grandchild. Baby Brooklyn. Brook was the first girl born into the Wisch family in a couple of generations, and no one was more proud than Grampa Jim. I only wish he'd been able to spend more time with her - to watch her walk, and talk. To start school - even graduate. But I guess it just wasn't meant to be.
Jim's sailing off into the mystic came as a shock. I only knew him to be in good health, vibrant, and loving life. Then, in a flash, without warning, he was gone. It's going to be tough, and it's going to take time, but that family will recover. I know they will, without any doubt. Why do I know?
Because they all have a lot of Jim in them.
