The date was February 23, 1984. I graduated from college in the spring of 83′ and had just turned 26 a little over a month ago. This morning I got up, picked up a friend and drove to a nearby ski resort for the day.
On the last run I was by myself because my friend wasn’t as experienced as I was. It was a black diamond run and I’ve been skiing since I was about 10 years old. I was even on the Ski Patrol at 2 other Montana ski resorts. Just not at this particular one.
Anyway, during that last run I had a massive heart attack and died right there on the side of the mountain.
The end.

That’s life. It begins in a flash and can end in an instant.

Sure. Life is hard. Just try not to waste it. Find something that’s meaningful to you in order to justify the difficulty. At the very least try not to make things worse for yourself or others.

If you’re lucky you can live a longer life than I did. And, when your life is near the end you can look back and say to yourself, “Man, that was hard! But so worth it.”

p.s.

My moms birthday is February 25th. Naturally, she was consumed with grief and away from home as I had died just 2 days prior to her birthday. She must have been gone for about a week to 10 days most likely. I believe she was living in Wyoming at the time and I was buried in the Montana town I grew up in.
Anyway, her mail had accumulated while she was gone and in the stack of cards, letters and bills was a very special birthday card waiting for her return. It was from me. I had sent it a day or two before I died.

Imagine how hard that must have been for her.

“I guess that’s about all I have to say.” Those were the last words he said to me at the end of a phone call a week or so before I got the worst call of my life. Steve was my big brother. I was 22 at the time.