My Celebration

Tonight's little celebration is for my friend, Joe. Joe is a true friend who has demonstrated selfless love, genuine kindness, what it means to be a father and husband, creativity beyond compare, child-like faith, and a spirit that delights the hardest of hearts. Joe has known pain like I probably will never experience and fear like I will never face. Yet, he has also felt peace and love like I will most likely never feel in this earthly body.

Tonight I am drinking a good beer and enjoying a good cigar in honor of Joe. I've been saving this cigar for the past year for one occasion: to celebrate a life that has touched mine in innumerable and profound ways.

You see, Joe has been battling a horrible cancer - the worst and most fatal - that has inflicted his body for the last 15 months. It was a long, fierce battle that has caused many tears and elicited many prayers.

Tonight, I celebrate with this cigar and my own tears because the battle is over...

Joe has won! He is cancer-free.