The Game of Life

What.A.Week. Lost a friend, gained a niece, reconnected with old friends.

Good news first....I received a phone call from my sister at 2:45 AM on Friday morning, just under 3 hours after her official due date. I was a bit dazed and confused, but quickly drove down to Olympia at 3 in the morning to take over on Gracie duty. Little miss Lyla arrived around 11:30 and she is absolutely PERFECT. Lyla is pretty much a clone of her big sister, but already have completely different temperments. I couldn't be more proud to be an auntie...twice!!

In the last week, I have reconnected with many people I have lost touch with over the years. One week ago today, I got a text message from a friend asking me if I heard our friend Johnie passed away. I immediately responded saying "what." As if she told me and I misheard her, instead, I read her text and misheard her. I was immediately filled with anxiety and confusion. There is no way this can be true. It has to be a mistake. I get on the internet and am reading article after article, all saying the same thing. No one knows what happened. Every article mentioned how Johnie scored the game winning touchdown in his game Saturday night, but found dead on Monday night. If this weren't the Johnie I knew, I would have immediately jumped to conclusions and made all of these accusations of how the whole situation unfolded. But not our Johnie. He was the goofiest, most loving gentle giant.

I'll never forget the first time I met Johnie. One of my best guy friends in high school was heading to UW to play football and he was matched up with his roommate, another football player, who played the same position as my friend Luke. Now, Luke was our "big man on campus," all 6 foot (...maybe...) of him. So when I hear Luke was paired with a player who played the same position, I expected someone somewhat similar. In walks Johnie, who has a good 4 inches on Luke, and a good 50-60 pounds on him. Being so small, Luke was always big to me... so Johnie was like a GIANT to me. But I quickly learned that Johnie was just a big ole teddy bear. Over the 4 years of college, Johnie lived with my high school friends off and on and I got to know him much better than I had expected. During the off-season, the boys would come out to visit at Central and stay the weekend. I do love my guy friends, but boy did they know how to drive me CRAZY.

The day I found out about Johnie, I kept trying to picture his big goofy smile and his replay his giggle over and over again. Nothing could break my sad mood, until I thought of a story I had forgotten about until last Tuesday. After a long weekend of binge drinking (At Central of course), we decided to drive to Yakima to go to the mall. Since I was the only one who woke up sober, I decided I would drive. And since Johnie was by far the biggest, he sat in the front. Tired of being elbowed and talked over and hearing the most inappropriate things, I think Johnie could pick up the fact that I was quickly getting annoyed of my favorite guys. He then starts going through my glove comparments and put on random pieces of jewelry and sunglasses. I gave him a half smile for his effort to make me laugh. Down the windy eastern Washington roads I go, and see out of the corner of my eye, Johnie flying something out of my sunroof. I glance over to see that he had found a box of tampons and opened them up and was flying them out the sunroof like kites. The boys were crying from laughing so hard, while I finally gave in and started laughing uncontrollably.

Johnie was a goof, a fantastic football player, a loving dad of a beautiful daughter, a great friend, and real genuine guy. Anyone that knew him will forever remember him for his shining smile and positive spirit. Johnie is now undoubtedly a shining guardian angel to the parents, sisters, daughter, and friends he left behind.

It shouldn't take these kinds of tragedies to remind us of the important things and people in our lives. If you love someone, tell them. If you want to make a change, make a change. If you're unhappy, BE HAPPY.

Life is too short. Play your cards right.