Monday, January 12, 2009

Rest In Peace, Sir.

My friend Jett Schaefer passed away the other day.

I blogged about Jett recently. He appeared on the cover of many magazines, the last one featuring a story about his battle with cancer. It hit the stands on Tuesday. He died Wednesday.

My biggest regret when my father passed away in 2007 was that I didn’t deliver the eulogy at his funeral. It was difficult to wrap my head around his sudden death, and I was a little overwhelmed. What I would have talked about was what we could all learn from his life – the appreciation he had difficulty showing people – and if we learned not to make the same error, then his legacy was strong.

Jett’s life taught me the importance of pursuing my passion. He pursued many, successfully.

The last two years have made me realize my least favorite aspect of the age of technology: deleting friends’ numbers from my cell phone. It took me a month to finally erase my friend Chas. Jett is proving just as tough.

I read a great quote the other day, and I’m not sure if it completely applies, but it meant a lot to me and made me feel better: “The life we plan is never as interesting as the life we end up living.”

Thanks for being my friend, Jett.