We miss Jimmy so much.
Ours days are much quieter without him and our lives will never be the same. Yet we know how many lives Jimmy touched. We still feel his presence in so many ways.
Jimmy was our son, our brother, our uncle and our friend. He was so many things to so many people. But he was so much more than a son, a brother, an uncle a best friend.. He was a presence, a huge part of our lives. And he was that presence because he chose to be that way. He made a conscious effort to be involved, to be interested in the lives of everyone he came in contact with, in the lives of anyone lucky enough to be his family or his friend.
It was the way he lived his life. Jimmy never missed an opportunity to “be there”.
For our parents, he would do anything, drop everything, “be right over”. He was a son, but also a friend who enjoyed every moment of quality time spent together. For we, his sisters, he was a best friend. For us, he kept life in check, kept us sane, made us realize what was important and what was not worth worrying over. For his nieces and nephews, he was the best playmate any kid could hope to have. He wouldn’t miss any “event” in their young lives. Soccer games, birthday parties and afternoon playdates were on the top of his daily “to do” list, no matter how little sleep he had or what else might be going on in his life. For his friends, his countless friends, he was honest, loyal, thoughtful, reliable and so,so funny. He always greeted everyone with the best, most sincere hug and the most genuine smile. He made us all laugh so much. He loved us all so much.
And with all this being said, Jimmy did not think he was anything “special”. He lived his life the way he thought everyone should live their lives. His family and his friends meant the world to him and he did everything to make us feel that, to make us realize that. He felt and often said that he felt like he lived a “charmed life”. He always felt very lucky, very blessed and in so many ways he was right. For his whole life, he was surrounded by people who loved him, his immediate and extended family and his countless friends. But in knowing that, he did not take his life or the people in it for granted. He was conscious every day of his “charmed life”. He truly believed and he would tell you that he had the best family, the best friends, the best life. And knowing that, he could and would ask for nothing more. He could do nothing more than be that presence, “be right over”, live his life the only way he could imagine, with a big smile, involved, interested, and thoroughly loving every minute of it.
