My Friend Nick

A little over a week ago I received one of those phone calls that just turns your world upside-down. We had lost another member on my Mother’s side of the family. He was not actually related to us by blood but, he was my cousin, Heather’s fiancé… he was her best friend, her lover, her soul mate, her night and her day. He was only 33 years old and was not ready to go. Nor were we ready for him to leave. I had the pleasure of being around Nick on 4 or 5 occasions throughout the course of their relationship. I remember the first time I met him… I had flown out to Denver, Colorado… Heather picked me up and drove me to their home on the side of one of the peaks in Breckenridge… he came shuffling out of the garage in ratty jeans, house shoes, a Harley Davidson hooded sweatshirt and multiple colors of paint all over him. He was shorter than me, shorter than Heather and the funniest accent for someone living in a Colorado ski town. He welcomed me into his home, shared with me his food, his drink and showed me all of his many, many paintings. Yep, he was an artist and a great artist at that… I saw so much of what he sees on canvas that day. I especially fell in love with one of his paintings of the deepest bluest sea colors and random eyeballs floating in it… sounds strange but so profound in the coloring. Nick was so full of life… just like his paintings…. He lived life to the fullest each and every day…. He was so blessed that he had the means and the drive to do all the crazy things and ideas that he created. He showed me so much handiwork he had completed on their house from the paint on the walls to the hardscapes in the yard. I swear he had hand painted every inch of space in that house whether sponged, rolled or brushed…. And it was absolutely beautiful. During that trip he made sure that I got to see all that Breckenridge had to offer… we went 4x4-ing all over the mountains where the old mining towns and mines are… he took me to shoot his rifles and skeet with his shotguns… he was blown away at how good I was! We toured all of Breck and all of the surrounding towns too… what a great time in Colorado in September…
They came home to GA that Christmas in the same year… Nick was officially introduced to the family…
And then I visited them again a year later only this time with Mike… and again, we were welcomed with open arms. And they took us all over the mountains touring… to Vail… to Keystone… such a great time! Mike and I had a blast…
Before we got to see them again, Mike and I engaged and married and they moved from Breck to Jupiter, Florida… always so far away! But, we did see them last September when they came up to GA for a weeklong visit… we had a blast riding around on the ATV all over the countryside.
And that was the last time I saw him…
And I can absolutely kick myself in the butt for not making an attempt to go see them at their new home in Florida all this time…. There is always an open invite to come down there and we are always just “too busy” to do it… and now it is too late.
We lost Nick Friday, November 14… doing one of the things he loved to do… scuba diving…. Always the extreme sportsman… Always into something… Always living life to the fullest! I grieve for my cousin every time I think of what she felt at that moment when the police came to the door that evening and told her that he was gone… I cannot fathom what that must feel like… it makes me hug my Husband tighter every time he leaves me now to go to work, to the store, to any where. I pray after him on his way to any where his path leads him… because who knows if he makes it back or not. Even the strongest woman who has lived on her own for 33 years can become dependent on their spouse of only 2 years on so many levels. I cannot imagine my life without my Husband even after only 2 years…and to have that all snatched away from someone in a heartbeat is just unimaginable. I understand why my cousin has not talked to me yet… it is just too soon. And I am only a reminder of their past… I really do not know what I am going to say to her when the time comes… I tear up every time I think of what words to tell her… it is going to be hard when I do… but, the most important thing is that she know that we love her and she will never be alone…it will just take time… lots and lots of time…
We miss you Nick! May you Rest In Peace sweet friend.
Nick Felipe
July 25, 1975 - November 14, 2008