Happy Birthday, Fast Eddie

Some people come into your life for a reason or a season, as the saying goes.  I'd add that some people are meant to be in your life as a permanent fixture; Fast Eddie is one of the those.

They moved next door in stages.  Bought the house, rented the house, renovated the house, and, finally, lived in the house.  Transformed into a welcoming home for their extended families' and friends' frequent visits, we said hello to sons and daughters and grandkids and former neighbors and church friends and brothers and golf buddies.  

We had the occasional lunch or dinner, but then the bullets started flying and all of a sudden everything was different.  They brought soup at midnight for my exhausted hospital visitors.  TBG agreed to give them a key to the house so that Xmas could be stored and cleanliness restored.  Fast Eddie talked his way past the hospital's security guards and brought their smiling faces to my bedside.  

While JannyLou was full of concern and love, Fast Eddie started me laughing again.

That's always been his talent.  He's full of Long Island snark and inherent brilliance.  He's socially conscious and active.  And he's very funny.

That combination led to a long and varied and consequential adulthood.  Shorn of a first marriage, he was a single parent and a full time employee at a time when men just didn't do that sort of thing.  He drove past JannyLou's front yard, liked what he saw, and took up their pastor's suggestion that he get to know her.

He did.

He was a business person and a social justice warrior.  He gave away his employer's funds to causes that practiced Tikkun Olam (healing the world) but his involvement didn't stop there.  Along with the money came his expertise, and that's where the difference lies.

It's not that hard to identify organizations whose work aligns with your values.  It's another level of devotion and commitment to serve on the Board, to befriend the staff, to see that the larger picture begins with the individual actors.  

The Center for Community Change, Promise Arizona, a (failed) candidate for Congress - that's one small part of the list of places and people who are better off because Fast Eddie is in the world. He's a businessman with a heart of gold, able to leverage his expertise and genuine concern to move things forward in a world that often seems to be stuck.

He's an old time activist who never lost his desire to do good.  He truly believes that hard work can heal the world, and he's not afraid to roll up his sleeves and do good.  

But there's so much more to him.  He's a loving father to his blended brood and their offspring, a loving husband to a wonderful wife he knows he is lucky to have, a loving friend who maintains life long relationshsteadips with people from every era of his peripatetic life.  

All those people from all those places will be gathering in Phoenix this afternoon for a surprise 80th birthday party.  No gifts; no one our age needs more stuff.  Instead, the party planners in his family asked for memories.  This is mine.

You laugh with us and cry with us.  You talk sports and politics and grandkids.  You step up to the plate when asked to do the hard jobs, and you do them with joy and intelligence and compassion.  You convince the intractable to abide by the rules, and leave everyone enjoying the experience.  You take joy in the accomplishments of others, without needing a pat on the back yourself.  You push through pain and sorrow with hope for the future and a clear eyed acceptance of the realities.  You are not afraid to ask for help, nor offer more than anyone has a right to expect.

There's only one Fast Eddie.  

We're honored and delighted to count you as a friend.

Happy Birthday!!