As you read this, I will have just completed the 1st Annual Jim McMahon Scholarship Golf Outing. My close friend, Jim, died in March. He was a golf professional, and a tremendous human being. To honor him, I established an annual golf outing so that his friends could get together and share what he meant to us all. We held it on September 5, as this would have been his birthday.

We have lined up several of his family members, including his daughter, to come over from Ireland so that they can hear what Jim meant to all of us, and hopefully hear what we meant to him. We are sending notes to his mother so she may read the stories and appreciate the impact he had on our lives.

As he was not that much older than me, it also made me contemplate my own mortality, and the finite nature of life. I feel as if I have accomplished many things- happy family, kids, successful practice, and giving back to the community. I also feel that there is so much more I am capable of.

While I will never again have the pleasure of Jim’s company in this world, I feel his presence all around me. As I contacted people about the outing, I learned how wide reaching his impact was. All types of people from every walk of life came together to make this happen.

It is my wish to use what I have learned from Jim in my daily life- enjoy each moment, share yourself with others, and don’t worry what they might think. Good advice for all.