Every man dies, not every man lives.
That was Tommy’s motto for life and he made sure he not only lived but everyone felt alive around him.
He had this special innate ability to make anyone he talked to feel important.
Even in a crowded room, you felt like you were the only person in the universe when he talked to you.
The men respected him, he knew more than most but made you feel like an equal next to him.
The girls loved him, if talking to him made you feel like the only person in the universe, being his made you feel like you were on top of it.
He graduated from our alma mater with honors, was engaged, and on his path to being the youngest executive of his company.
All by 22, Tommy had his life figured out then tragedy struck.
His father passed away mere months after we graduated. The only solace he had was that his father got to see the proudest moment of his life.
Potentially the last moment he could be proud of in general.
That’s because Tommy broke when he lost his father. His dad was his best friend, the man who taught him everything he knows, and the reason he was the way he was.
Tommy regressed all the way back to his childhood and acted like a toddler on his way to kindergarten more than an adult on his way to a successful life.
He became obsessed with the 90s because it was a happier time for him. The decade where he could simply be a kid and have his dad here for him.
He asked us to play classic games that his dad played with him, he asked us to play catch or watch old Disney movies. He wanted his childhood back because being an adult meant he had to move on without the man who pushed him where he needed to go.
I understand why he did now, part of me was tempted to do it when I lost my own. It’s easy to become obsessed with what makes you feel better to get through what we call life.
I had to do it, I became even more obsessed with the sport I’ve given my life for. You do what it takes to survive but you can either dive into something that pushes you forward or backwards.
Choosing the past whether it be your own or one you wished you lived in is choosing to never move past what broke you.
I don’t know what put you on your path to obsessing over the 80s but obsessing over a lost generation is exactly how you don’t live in this one and ultimately Tommy took his life when he realized he couldn’t live in the year he really wanted to.
I don’t want that for you kid but if you stay on this path, SeeSaw might make sure you don’t have a choice.
Please kid, I want you to enjoy the present while you still can, stop proving to the tworld the best thing you can do is rewind.
It’s time to press play.