Because They Have Passed, Does Not Mean They Are Gone From Our Lives

A month ago a part of our UNC Charlotte Soccer Family of the early ‘90s passed when Ant Man suddenly and surprisingly passed away in Tulsa. A number of us (from the soccer program at UNCC with Anthony) were able to attend his wonderful celebration of Life hosted by his kind and generous spouse Nina. So Ant was still bringing us together as he did when he was a 49er athlete, we shared stories and laughed and cried. We talked about what a wonderful player for CLT he was and the dribbling hip swivel that was a signature move, his infectious smile and laugh, and his combination of kindness and mischievousness that made him a fabulous teammate. Going forward we would all like to move ahead from Anthony’s celebration of life in a manner that Ant Man would celebrate!

Days later, Los, one of Anthony’s teammates was verbalizing how he was struggling with the loss and talked about how hard it was to get over the loss of his beautiful and wonderful sister 20 years ago. That is a similar amount of time since my older brother passed also. I don’t know if we ever fully get over these losses particularly like these three that were sudden. What we can do is live in a way that they we would find as being incredible. Do life in a way that we say ‘Ant would have enjoyed that, he would have been proud I did that, and he would have expected more of me than that”

Living our lives in a way that we are checking in with Ant, Carlos’s sister, and my brother, like they are there with us to check in about our joys, challenges, and make us live up to their expectations! SO THEY HAVE PASSED BUT NOT GONE FROM OUR LIVES! I look forward to your continued help to live a better life!