Buffs Helping Buffs

 

Today on the campus of my Alma mater, CU Boulder, several hundred people are taking part in a simply terrific event.  It is the 11th Annual Buffs4Life Kyle MacIntosh Memorial 5K.  Buffs4Life is an organization established by - and overseen by - Buff alums who were student athletes to create a safety net for Buffs in need.  Kyle MacIntosh was an exceptional track-and-field athlete taken far too soon by an insidious disease.   

This year, as I have done every year since 2020 - when COVID forced the creation of a “virtual” event, I shall do my small part from here in the great Garden State.   For as a member of this particular herd, “Shoulder to Shoulder” is much more than a lyric from the fight song’s chorus.  It is a recognition of our commitment to one another.  

-AK

The Truest Companion

 

Thirty years ago today, Margaret and I got married.   One of the great mysteries of my life is why she ever agreed to such a clearly one-sided deal.   One of the other great mysteries of my life is why she has tolerated my bullshit for the past thirty years.   

May I never give her cause to start looking hard for the answer to either of those questions.  She is an amazing woman, my wife.  Absolutely extraordinary.   The default thing to say today might well be “Happy Anniversary!” but what I really want to say is “Thank you!”

Today.  Tomorrow.   And every day thereafter. 

-AK

Six Years Gone

 

Six years ago - today - my mother died.  Thirty-six years earlier - to the day - she had buried her husband/my father.  Mom was the epitome of a person who gave more to this world than she got from it.  She gave generously and asked for nothing in return.  Not from anyone.  Not ever.  

-AK 

Of Buttons and Blouses

My mother-in-law, Suzanne Bozzomo, died fourteen years ago today.  It makes me more than a little uncomfortable that I shall begin this day in Florida, several hundred miles away from Margaret and from Joe.  This is not an easy day for either of them.  Nor has it been for any of the past fourteen years.  

Then again, when someone you love completely - and who loved you that very same way - dies, the pain you feel never goes away.   Neither does the love.

-AK