A Moment Of Silence and A Celebration Of A Life Gone Too Soon

Nicholas Sharkey.
The guy with a cool last name.
A man in his 30's with a great teenage son.
Someone who has a circle of friends that could rival anyone else's.
And now someone that has passed on way sooner than anyone should have.
He has been called back by God.
and today would have been his 34th birthday.

This past Friday April 25th as the wife and I were out of town celebrating a friend's graduation we were dropped with the bombshell of Nick's passing.

The wife and Nick go way back as they grew up together and have been best friends from when they were in elementary school to the day he died. They have been through their up and downs together and have seen each other grow and accomplish their individual goals. They were there for each other every step of the way and I am glad he was in her life and I am lucky to have known him since I entered her life in 2005.

Unlike many of Nick's friends I do not have endless stories of our get togethers but the ones I do always have me having a great time with Nick. The first time I met him was when I went to a concert in Long Beach that the wife wanted to go to and all I can remember from that time was "damn this guy's hair is high as hell and pointy as fuck". Many times that night he almost poked my eye out with that hair but from that night I could see why people liked to hang out with him. He always was out to have fun and if there wasn't any to be had he made it as he went along and took people with him on his ride until everyone was having a good time.

Lucky for me Nick was also a sports fan which meant I could get him to tag along to a baseball game which gave me an excuse to catch another game. One week as a birthday gift I bought him a ticket to Dodger/White Sox game and an Angel/White Sox as both games were being played within a few weeks of each other. Him being a White Sox fan gave him the opportunity to see his team against both mine and the wife's team. His team got slaughter in both. The ragging continued on for weeks. Good times for all involved.

There are many other times where we just hung out or played video game way into the night but my favorite memory of him and I was on my wedding day.

As any married man can tell you the wedding day can be very hectic and mine had it's fair share but real early in the morning on that special day around 8 he and I were alone. The calm before the storm so to speak as we were tasked with taking 50+ wooden chairs down 100+ stairs down to the sandy beach where I was to wed his childhood friend. Before we started the job we both went down to 7-11 and bought ourselves a couple of energy drinks and sat and listened to the waves crashing and the people walking along the boardwalk and had some minimal guy chit chat as we took in what was happening that day. A simple talk during a big day and it was the perfect way to start my blessed day. All I could say that day and today is thank you for being there and glad you could be a big part of my wife and I's wedding.

Obviously Nick touched many of lives as evident on Facebook from all the comments and remembrances that have popped up all weekend long. I didn't know Nick long but I considered him a good friend and hopefully he thought the same of me. I might not have been there physically on the day he passed but he has always been in my prayers and thoughts the past few years and I hope he realized that as I always wished the best for him. Through Nick he introduced me to many new friends such as his sister Tabatha and her husband Beau and their little ones. His mother Lyn accepted me as his friend and welcomed me into her home many times for parties. He made my friend circle bigger.

Nick will be missed by everyone whose life he touched and was involved in. I hurt for my wife as her best friend has been taken away from her way too soon. They were supposed to be in rocking chairs in their 80's talking about the good old days. Now that won't be happening. I will miss my friend and even though we didn't share as many adventures as a lot of other people I did enjoy ours. Movies, music and baseball games were always a little more entertaining when you were there and that is a hole that can't be filled with you gone.

Godspeed Nick as I and everyone else knows you are in a much better place and are pain free now and have found the peace that eluded you for far too long on this earth. You will be missed till the day we all join you in that happy place. Keep a seat warm for this guy as we will have much to catch up on. We love you.

Though we are sad for your passing we are happy that you were in our lives