This is the Time

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This is the time to remember.

Last night we visited with a few close friends in a basement that is setup for men to play games, drink beer, make fun of each other, and bet on everything under the sun. As you will note I had a pool cue in my hands and its a good thing I didn't hurt myself with it. I shot pool as badly as I played Foosball, and threw darts. I entered the party with a case of beer and a bottle of grey goose to pay off a bet when the 27-time World Champion Yankees were eliminated this year.

I also had about 50 bucks in my pocket but I donated that fairly quickly by playing pool, darts and foose like a real moron. Nothing worked.

But it doesn't matter because my stomach hurt from laughing. My brother Jim showed up and with our friends we told so many stories about Jeff's life that there was no way that we were leaving sad - laugh after laugh after laugh.

Yet it was heartbreaking because those were the very same games that we played with him on our team, or against us and we heard his voice all night in the primitive language that we speak.

"You're only cheating yourself."

"Chow down, wide load."

"They aren't drinking in Ethiopia tonight."

"Score!"

"As the barber says, 'next!"

Phrase after phrase, laugh after laugh. Story after story.

If you take a good look at the photo you will notice a couple of things:

1). I've lost weight. Carrie put up a photo of me from a little while ago and I wanted to scream! Why didn't you tell me my ass was so big? But that is behind me now. (Pun intended).

2). There is a great photo of a golf vacation that ten of us went on a couple of years ago. Jeff was in the center in that photo, wearing his Gilligan golf hat, and smiling wide.

These are the days we'll hold onto because we won't although we'll want to.

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