Shane has always been one of the most solid people in my life. We became fast friends 20 years ago, and have been in each other's lives ever since. He is an enormous person, with a personality to match. I've come to admire him for the husband and father he is, especially considering he had no father in his life. He had moved Marcine down to CS five years ago or so, to take care of her.... and he did. She died at home, with him and his wife by her side. Her last words were; "I love you". To watch my friend, this giant of a man, struggle to maintain his composure as he eulogized his mother and thanked his wife for her loving care of her, was most likely the most difficult thing I've ever witnessed in my life. I'd like to tell you I made it out of there with my own emotions in check, but I'd be lying to you. My thoughts were drawn to the three children in my immediate life, and the way that they need a father, and that maybe God or whoever started all of this, put me here to love their mother and them. Marcine taught us so much by going away, and forcing us 4 guys who've known each other for so long to sit together and really communicate about how we feel about each other and how we've changed each other's lives. Coming out better friends evan than we were before, and with more of an understanding of what we want for the rest of our own lives.
Thank you Marcine... for being so good to all of us. And for giving us your son, who is part of the glue that holds so many of us together. You left the world a better place than you found it.
