Tonight, as I drove up Plaskett, the Moon was big and fat. It shed an orange glow that was just magic as it rose over the Big Sur mountains of home. This was Jim’s Moon.

When I got to my gate today, just before noon, I got a phone call from a girlfriend. One of the girlfriends I was meeting today in town watched her 67 year-old partner die in their bed this morning, of an apparent heart attack, and obviously, wouldn’t be meeting me. That was Jim. Tonight, Jim shined and smiled on me from the full moon over Plaskett.

I wrote and re-wrote this blog in my head on the way home tonight, and did not like anything I came up with. Then I saw Jim’s Moon, and it all became clear.

Jim was a pilot. He flew the skies in helicopters…in Viet Nam, in Air Shows, on the Big Sur Coast, and throughout this nation. My girlfriend went with him on one cross-country trip. He loved the skies. He loved my girlfriend.

I bought the ex a helicopter trip over the Big Sur Coast for his 65th birthday with Jim. It was an expensive birthday present for an ex, but he deserved it, and I knew he would love Jim. Both served in Viet Nam. The ex had been in several helicopter crashes in Viet Nam, and held a special reverence for these warriors. He loved Jim.

Jim left us today. He left his partner, my girlfriend. He left his kids, his family, and so many friends. But he left us with our memories, his gifts, his love. 

And tonight, Jim’s Moon shone down on us from the skies. Reminding us of the gift that is life.

Added latter: article about Jim in the March 12th Herald here: http://www.montereyherald.com/local/ci_11894208?nclick_check=1