Life really is good. I lost a friend and a mentor a few days ago. He was 69 yrs young and at a ballroom dance class with his wife when his heart gave out. Yesterday we got together and celebrated his life, career, family, and his many achievements. Nearly 1,500 people in attendance, lotsa folks shaking hands, hugging, laughing and crying.
Dennis was very active in the Democratic Party and not one for extremism. The local head of the Republican Party attended the funeral and spoke briefly about how Dennis kept the people of his district as his focus and not party politics. A man that Dennis represented in a Workman's Comp claim hitchhiked from Pine Ridge Reservation so he could pay his respects. Virtually everyone in the legal system in the area was represented, all spoke highly of how Dennis represented not just clients but Justice. The Justice that comes with a capital J, not an abstract concept, but something real and tangible. Young people in their early 20's from his Tai Chi class attended and spoke of how he fit in despite the age disparity. Representatives from EVERY sportsman's or conservation group were there in full force, his love of the fishing, hunting and involving kids in these activities was the stuff of legends.
He lived well. He died well. He will be remembered well. His life, in every sense of the words, spelled out the concept LIFE IS GOOD.
