My wife began her contractions on April 7th, that afternoon Denny Tovey died. At around nine that evening I was lying in bed with Brooke and said to her that it was time for me to focus on our new son. The following day at 3:54pm George Christopher was born. These two events; the death of a friend, the father of my best friend and the birth of my son will always be a great reminder of mortality. I wondered Thursday evening as I settled in bed whether Denny and George passed each other in some eternal hallway. I'd like to think their conversation wasn't long, just a "hello" and a mutual "good luck". I'd like to think that both were a little too preoccupied with what was about to happen. Denny had an orientation mixer to get to and George eagerly wanted to try his new body. More than anything I like to think as they were passing Denny gave George a wink as if he knew what George was in for, that Denny had a lifetime of experiences, of knowledge, of love. I like to think that Denny knew about all the moments George would come upon, learning to ride a bike, drive a car, put up with complete morons. That he knew that George would feel love and feel hurt, that he would have lots of doubts and fears. I like to think that as Denny was passing giving that confident wink George without missing a beat would look right back into Denny's eyes and give him a mischievous wink back.
