If Craig Lundwall were here today, he would be marking his 44th birthday. It would be a celebration. All who knew and loved him would be sharing the joy. Craig was remarkable, first and last, for his kindness and his sense of humor. These gifts manifested themselves in so many ways that no single person who knew him--even very well--can name completely.

Craig took his life nine years ago for reasons I don't--can't--fully understand. Obviously, sorrow overwhelmed him, and he saw no other way out. What pain, what anger, what frustration filled his heart I can well imagine, but I don't know. The bottom line is that those things that were not good won out over those things that were marvelous in every way. So his pain was big.

I used to say the world is so much less now that he is gone. That was my own sorrow talking. I see it differently now. These days I say, "Thank you Craig, for being here, and for sharing the road with me for so many years." His gifts were many and beautiful; to stay in sorrow is to miss that. No more.

Every time I say thank you, Craig is here, and the way is beautiful yet.