a perfect day
I met Dan through work, where it was work hard, and often times play even harder. And we worked damn hard. I was lucky enough to not only work with Dan directly at the start of his career, but eventually as colleague’s and friends sharing the corner “office” (really just a cubicle) last year. Dan was battle tested, not just in business, but in every aspect of life as he returned to the office in late 2018. He brought back with him a perspective of gratefulness just to have the opportunity to add value to something bigger than him. He was a mentor to so many without even knowing it, and the pain of losing him extends through the fabric of an entire organization.
At one point last year, Dan got the go-ahead to start exercising again so we would go for an early morning jog along the river before work a few days a week. He was excited at the prospects of starting to playing golf and hockey again. It was rewarding to see him progressing and building back his physical strength. His mental strength was simply off-the-charts and he was clamoring for his body to catch up. The conversations we had those mornings were incredibly powerful, he would talk almost poetically about the importance of life, family, work, friends, being a dad, son, brother, and husband. He was thankful for everything and everyone in his life, and often said “Man, today was perfect!”.
Dan always liked to chirp a bit, whether it was on the golf course, hockey bench, or any sport he was playing. It was always pretty innocent, but the competitiveness was immediately apparent. A few of us went on a trip to Carolina to watch Thomas in the playoffs last year where we played a couple rounds of golf. On the Saturday, we had hired a caddy to help us, but within the first 2 holes, he basically forgot about the rest of us and just started caddying for Dan. This didn’t sit well with the rest of us, but he just wouldn’t give us the same attention. He would be muttering to Dan, soft but firm, soft but firm – whatever that meant but Dan ate it up. He was so intense and focused on every piece of advice. Then he would line us up for what looked like sand traps or accidentally’ tell us the wrong distances. I’m almost sure Dan pocketed him an extra $20 to get us off our game but we had a lot of laugh’s along the way. Man, that day was perfect.
Miss ya buddy.
-David