Thank you to Jack Sr., Jack Jr. and the rest of the Irons family. That story was intensely touching. As I've said in a few other posts, I don't "deal" with death well, but have been surprisingly tough with Gary's passing. Well, up until I read that beautiful post. I completely lost it. My eyes are stinging like someone sprayed carb cleaner in my face. It's all good though, because I sorta' feel better. Really moved in a super sad way, but better somehow. I don't know what I'm saying except that your story helped me really ground all the things I have ever suspected about Gary. His incredible kindness, his seemingly never ending generosity, his ability to keep a positive perspective on virtually all situations... just an amazing guy.

I lost another friend a few years back in a tragic car accident (a super cool hot rod Ford guy) and I still get a little busted up when thinking about how I'll never see him in his Mustang again. What helped me get through the loss of THAT cool guy is exactly what I'm going to apply to Gary's passing too. That is, look at things the way THEY might have and give a best guess how they would have wanted us to handle it. This other friend that I lost was extremely similar to Gary in his super upbeat attitude. I've had some lengthy conversations with both Gary and my other friend that I lost and found that their perspectives were always the way to look at things. So in some ways, we really haven't "lost" these guys, because their memories live on. I realize that sounds cornball Disney-esque, but it's actually quite true. Gary will never really be totally gone, because I can still sorta' hear him talking sense to me the way he did many a'time before.

Thanks again, Jack Jr. & Jack Sr. That was an awesome post.

Dale