Today is the 3rd Annual Jim McMahon Golf Outing at New York Country Club. It is to honor the memory of my good friend Jim who died unexpectedly in March of 2013. As painful as it is to lose a close friend, it happened to me the week after my only brother died.
Jim McMahon was a golf pro. He came over from his native Ireland in the late 1980’s to work in the Financial District just before the crash. With no job, he scrambled to find work as a tile contractor, and eventually began teaching golf. That is how I met him.
Jim taught me more about life than golf. The way he could walk into a room full of strangers and in 5 minutes make everyone else feel comfortable. The way he took care to notice the cleaning crew or normally invisible folks in a business and made them feel important. His desire to learn about anything and everything.
I visited Laragh in County Cavan in Ireland last year for the wedding of his brother. I met his mother and his 14 brothers and sisters. I visited his gravesite beside his father. I understand where he came from and what life was like.
Jim loved everything life had to offer. He was curious and interested in the world, and embraced it with open arms. That is why I help to organize this event, and enjoy sharing stories with the hundreds of other people he effected.
Rest in peace, my friend. You are not forgotten.