Ad Men
As somebody who grew up in Holyoke and came from a big Irish family, I sure as hell have gone to a lot of wakes, funerals, and burials in my time. Surprisingly, I had never been to a Celebration of Life until last Thursday night.
It was tagged “The Life and Times of James Garvey: A Celebration of Our Best Memories.” It was in honor of James Garvey, tragically killed in a motorcycle accident in Los Angeles almost a year ago. He was only 35 years old. James’s parents, John and Sue, and his sister Quinn planned the event, which was really well done.
The event was held at Westfield River Brewing Co. in Southwick. I was a speaker, along with Attorney Scott Foster and Jesse Baker of Grit24, who had been a trainer to John and James. Those two guys gave James a helluva salute.
I spoke about my long relationship with John Garvey, who runs Garvey Communications in Springfield, a business James was a big part of. I told people how proud we were of the father-and-sons businesses we were both running. But sadly, we all knew why we were gathered last Thursday night.
I also called out James as an “ad man,” which he sure as hell was. When we lost James, we lost a firebrand. Like I said, it’s been almost a year since James died, and I think it has taken his family that long to start to emerge from the shock of his loss to do this event.
Mark Burke is an old friend, and he’s the guy who got me thinking about the meaning of these Celebrations of Life. We ran into each other walking in, and Mark said this was the third one he had been to this summer. He said he really liked the good vibe they generated, not just sorrowful.
This event was personalized, uplifting, and focused on the good memories of James. It had a real authentic ring to it. It was really about James’s personality and all the great moments he shared with family and friends. It also brought a lot of people together in the brewery, which I’m sure helped John, Sue, and Quinn.
I don’t know how they do it, but John, Sue, and Quinn have this no-quit optimism. Still having a sense of humor through the worst of times was inspiring to all of us. “Ride on, James. Ride on.”
Keep your dukes up.
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