From a deanship during Dartmouth's student-unrest days, to a lobster ship on Maine
Jay had what I call a “million dollar smile.” It was big, and full of impressive ivory, and his whole head seemed to twinkle and bob a bit when it flashed, as if he were shy at being so radiant.
And radiant he was.
He radiated love for Aune, his wife of more than half a century, which he expressed eloquently the dozens of times I was with him over the last five years; he radiated a father’s pride in his son and daughters, who were the apples of his eye, along with his grand-kids; he radiated conviction about his concern for students at Dartmouth troubled with addiction problems; and he radiated zest for life, whether panning for gold in New Hampshire rivers, taking Buddhist meditation classes, playing the Stock Market, or meeting a friend for pizza at EBA’s ("Everything But Anchovies," a college hang-out in Hanover).
And what made that radiance even more remarkable was that Jay did not deny the darkness in life.
He radiated love for Aune, his wife of more than half a century, which he expressed eloquently the dozens of times I was with him over the last five years; he radiated a father’s pride in his son and daughters, who were the apples of his eye, along with his grand-kids; he radiated conviction about his concern for students at Dartmouth troubled with addiction problems; and he radiated zest for life, whether panning for gold in New Hampshire rivers, taking Buddhist meditation classes, playing the Stock Market, or meeting a friend for pizza at EBA’s ("Everything But Anchovies," a college hang-out in Hanover).
And what made that radiance even more remarkable was that Jay did not deny the darkness in life.
A couple of years ago when I had to be in the hospital for the first time since I was born, I awoke to find Jay, sitting in a chair beside my bed, that million-dollar smile radiating out at me.
That’s the kind of friend he was.
The last email-I received from him in what turned out to be his own final hours six days before he died, mentioned off-hand that he was sitting at the bedside “of an old friend at Genesis” for what might soon be that friend’s final hours.
Need I say more about fishing with kindness and loyalty in this ocean called Life?
From now on, whenever I feel the warmth of another's smile, I'll see my kind friend Jay, peering out from behind that grin, radiating from afar.
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From now on, whenever I feel the warmth of another's smile, I'll see my kind friend Jay, peering out from behind that grin, radiating from afar.
Paul
Paul D. Keane
M.A., M.Div., M.Ed
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