Today I found out a dear friend and neighbor passed away.

JT [this is not someone I have talked about before] had a heart attack this summer and never completely recovered, I can only hope he’s at peace. And as hard as this may sound, I hope that there is peace and relief for his wife, PT and their family as they have been worrying about him and his struggles this past year. There have been several health scares over the past few years, each time, came back, but it was a struggle.

As sad as I am about losing this great guy, I want to celebrate his life…his goofy, generous, sweet, melodious, caring life.

When I moved into the neighborhood, he and his wife were two of the first people I met, they had the know in the hood. Very quickly, we became fast friends, along with another couple, DB and LB, we had a good time, hanging out, going to dinner, girls nights and parties, parties, parties. That neighborhood was a happening place when I first moved in,[that just sounded wrong], we would have parties that would last well into the evening, sometimes it was the B’s, the T’s and me hanging out around the kitchen table after cleaning up after the party and talking.

I remember when I started hosting tree trimming parties, he and PT would be there helping to trim my first Christmas tree and I would go to their house and help trim one of the 800 [kidding] trees they had, I had so much fun and then we would be out there on a Saturday morning with a bunch of neighbors decorating the front of the neighborhood and all the lamp posts. Then there were the Patriot’s Day Parades, who would be bringing up the rear after the horses and getting the biggest laugh on a riding lawnmower or with a shovel. Like I said, loved to have a good time and get a laugh!

The first year, there were 7 couples in the neighborhood who got together to take a Carnival Cruise to Nassau, Cozumel and Belize. We had the B’s, T’s, P’s, S’s, JP and N, me and the agent for the neighborhood. We had A BLAST! The B’s are expert cruisers so they steered us in the right direction on things to do, how to get free drinks, you know, the good stuff! Yes, I know I don’t drink, but it’s still fun.

The nice thing was that no matter what we did, every evening, we had dinner together, that was important. We toured the islands, snorkeled in Belize, drank in Cozumel at Carlos and Charlie’s http://www.carlosandcharlies.com/cancun/, some a little more than others. Let’s just say, the non drinker, JT had almost an entire yard arm of margaritas…by himself, then he and someone else headed back to the ship and when PT, DB and I were walking back to the ship, all of a sudden, there he was, apparently, they couldn’t find the ship, even though it was almost behind us! I’m not sure if we ever stopped laughing about that one!

Hey, I took my job very seriously of being the ASP…Always Sober Person, I was responsible for knowing everyone’s cabin numbers!

JT was heavily involved in his church, a great number of neighbors all attend the same church. He was not only a member, he was also ordained and would perform weddings for friends and congregants. He had an amazing voice, would sing in church or almost anywhere if you asked. I have memories of him singing on the cruise we took and I know that is something that people will remember him for for a long time.

For work, he was a home appraiser, really enjoyed his job and was so passionate about it, I know when I was buying in the neighborhood, he gave me some good advice.  JT was passionate about everything he did, no matter what it was, he put his heart into it.

He was passionate about our neighborhood, wanted it to be a happy and wonderful place to live, I think I told you that the day I bought my house, there was an article in the local newspaper with a picture of my house with a quote from JT and PT that it was a “Leave it to Beaver” neighborhood. We had Halloween parties for the kids before trick-or-treating began, caroling at the holidays, big parties for holidays, birthdays, didn’t matter what, JT was at the center of it, sometimes holding court, sometimes just going with the flow.

But there was nothing he was more passionate about than his family, being a father and grandfather, blending families together with PT, his family grew and he never looked at any of the children as anything more than his kids, there was never a step in the bunch, you couldn’t tell who “belonged” to who, so to speak.

JT had been unwell for quite a while, but a few months ago, I was in Atlanta and I stopped by the house and I had the opportunity to stop by the house to see them. I got to spend about an hour with them catching up, joking with each other and even though JT wasn’t able to communicate fully, he made his point and we joked and flirted and gave each other crap, i wouldn’t have had it any other way. The most important thing, I got to say hello and I loved him and got to hug him before i left and I will take that memory with me.

PT started calling me ‘Little B’ and I started calling her “Big B’, yes it’s what you think but very affectionate. JT was always Big Dawg to me and that’s what I will always think about and smile affectionately when I think about him and his larger than life personality. I won’t see him the way he was at the end, I’ll see the larger than life guy who made you laugh even when he wasn’t trying.

If you had the opportunity to know him, you were incredibly lucky, if you didn’t get the chance, just ask anyone who knew him and you won’t feel like you missed out, you’ll feel like you actually knew him.