Weekend Report:

I'm writing this about 35,000 feet above Texas. We are finally headed back home after 5 tough days in Philadelphia. Chuck was in his early 40's. It was a sudden massive heart attack. He was the kind of guy that grabbed life by the horns and rode it for everything it has to offer. Makes me stop and take stock of how I'm living my life. He leaves behind a beautiful wife and two small boys who, based on their incredible handling of the situation, share his love of life and will carry on with gusto.

In perfect Chuck style - a wonderful celebration of life for the biggest hearted guy I know. While there were tears, there was also a lot of laughter and love and partying. Chuck lived larger than life and his funeral demonstrated just how many lives he touched.

So with that, here's my Weekend Report:

Thursday Night: Arrived in Philly around 11:00 at night after an uneventful flight. We were met at the airport by Aunt C and Uncle P. We headed back to the house and unpacked and tucked ourselves in ... it was going to be a busy weekend.

Friday Report: The viewing was in New Jersey. Not being that familiar with the route, we followed the rest of the family over. We arrived at about 6:15 to a full parking lot and a really long line. Caught up with the other family members who'd driven in from up and down the east coast. And then paid our respects. Friday was tough - open casket and all that. Over 400 people showed up. Nancy and the two boys were simply amazing. Somehow they hung in there for over 3 hours in the receiving line. There were two large boards filled with pictures. Pictures of the family reunions and summers at the shore. Pictures of his friends and teammates. Pictures of Chuck years and years ago with the biggest ass Magnum PI mustache I never knew he had.

In traditional Irish Catholic style, when all was said and done, it was decided that a bunch of us would head over to his favorite bar to toast the mans life. We walked in and the place was PACKED - wall to wall people, but ever the eagle eye the missus ended up scoring a table for us. The band was pretty funny in the 70's-80's retro rock kinda way... The lead singer did an accopella, slow and heartfelt version of Billy Joel's "Only the Good Die Young" as a dedication to Chuck - and yes, it was the first time Billy Joel has ever made me shed a tear. On the other hand, ya couldn't help but laugh too. We met a lot of Chucks friends, fellow softball teammates, and bar buddies. It was good to be there.

Not having anyone to lead us back to PA, I had to do my best to recall the way home. We did okay except that New Jersey has a very strange habit of every once in a while putting the exits on the left just to keep ya on your toes I guess. I wasn't paying close enough attention and so we made a slight detour through the lovely town of Mt. Ephram. A quick stop at the 7-11 with two drunks guys fighting over beef jerky later and we were back on the road headed in the right direction. Earlier in the evening, I was warned "Whatever you do, don't get lost in Chester" but that's exactly what happened. It wasn't THAT bad, I've seen/lived in worse areas, but I didn't want to have to stop and ask for directions at 1:00 in the morning either ... I'm fairly certain that Chuck had a hand in making sure we got home alright that night.

Saturday Report: We headed back over to NJ in the morning for the service, which was beautiful and Bernie delivered a very moving eulogy. I had to bite my tongue though when, as usual, the priest informed everyone that communion was reserved for "Practicing Catholics" only. I never got that... I was baptized and confirmed in the Episcopal church but I guess that the Catholics have a corner on the body of christ market... so I crossed my arms and received the blessing from a guy in a suit. As the missus said, it doesn't count unless it's from a priest anyway...

We headed for the cemetery and I'd forgotten how cold 6º really is... it was fucking cold. Beyond cold. Not exactly the kind of day you want to be standing graveside. But there we were - saying our final goodbyes. Not to put too much gallows humor in this but when the priest sprinkled the holy water, I was sure it was going to freeze in midair and tiny ice cubes would clink down onto the casket. It didn't. But while we were all involuntarily shivering in the mind numbing cold, the priest was there with no coat, no gloves without so much as a single shiver or chattering of the teeth. I don't know how they do that.

Afterwards, we went back to the bar where everyone (200+ people maybe?) had lunch and several drinks, made toasts - his son, Chuck III - who's about 10 years old, brought everyone to tears with his stories of his dad. Of course, they played the fart machine through the PA system. The missus and I had brought the fart machine with us from CA. Chuck loved the fart machine - in fact, so much so that a few people were tempted to put in the casket with him and set it off when someone walked up. Common sense unfortunately got the better of us, but I'm betting he would have loved it.

After lunch, a bunch of us went back to their house, more beer was consumed and we laughed and told our best Chuck stories. Again. I just have to sit here and smile knowing that Chuck couldn't have planned it any better if he wanted to. It was perfect. Grief, yes. Sorrow, yes - but so much love and laughter, good friends and family. What a measure of a man.

Sunday was spent mostly just hanging out - the missus took me on a tour of her main line roots, we visited with a few folks, then it was back to the house for football, specifically, the Eagles game (or as they say Eggles). Of course I had to bet my father in-law $20 - I took Green Bay. This, as we know, guaranteed a Philly win. If you ever want a team to win - make sure I bet against them. Besides, Chuck was the biggest Eagles fan ever and so they had to win. I shoulda known better - I might have an extra 20 bones in my pocket.

Which brings me to here... 35,000 feet over Texas.

One thing I've taken away from all of this is that life is too short to let precious moments and LIFE pass you by. There is so much in each day that I miss... if I could only take the time to stop and let myself just be... Instead of living in the land of what ifs and shoulda coulda woulda's. I daydream too much. I live in my head too much. I let myself get caught up in how I think my life should be - all the while I've let slip things that are really important but I'm too caught up in myself to notice. I need to stop and acknowledge and thank and live each moment. That's the way it should be. And I promise you Chuck, I will.

Only the Good Die Young - Billy Joel