On Constant Repeat :: Caoineadh Cú Chulainn

It's been a pretty tough week around here. On Sunday night, one of the most fun-loving people I've ever know passed away suddenly, in an accident. Keith was one of a kind. Over the course of this week, I've scribbled down a million notes in an attempt to streamline the thoughts swirling behind my faraway stare. But I'm still having trouble getting them out.

To say that Keith was just a bartender, or that his family's bar is just a bar - couldn't be further from reality. A firefighter, friend, and lover of life, Keith lived every day as if it were his last bringing a smile to the face of everyone he encountered. The bar, our Cheers, is a living room for the monster New Rochelle and Iona family ever present in his life. Hundreds of people waited for hours in thunderstorms to pay their respects - a testament to his far reaching impact on all of our lives. For nine years Keith was a fixture in my life, ever present to serve up some liquid courage, flash those infamous abs, or lend me an ever needed ear.

From my sorority sisters to my parents, my boyfriend to my former flames, my sister to my dart team - we all knew and loved this amazing man who taught us how to live every day as if it were our last, never turn down the opportunity for a costume, and never take life too seriously. I can pinpoint the day that Keith's insistence on my presence at the bar rerouted the entire course of my life - and I wouldn't have it any other way.

For the time I was granted with him, my gratitude is immeasurable.
I'm honored to have called him a friend.