Eat Teach Blog

Eating, Teaching, Running, and the Life that Happens in Between it All

You Make Us Great

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I’ve been gone for a long time.

Partially because writing about my day-to-day activities seemed trivial compared to the events that were going on around me. But more so because I’ve been walking around in a daze for the past two weeks, trying to process the mess inside my head.

Over Thanksgiving break, I was notified that Jay Martino – a former co-worker, but more importantly, a wonderful friend – had suffered a heart attack while on vacation with his family. Unfortunately, Jay didn’t make it.

These past two weeks, my heart has been aching for my CMS family.

I’ve been angry. Angry that such an amazing teacher, husband, father, friend, coworker was taken away from this world way too early.

I’ve been confused. Confused that someone as healthy as Jay – someone who was an avid biker, scuba diver, long distance cyclist, and so much more – suffered a massive heart attack.

I’ve been reflective – thinking back on our class trip to Yosemite where the students begged to be in Mr. Martino’s group, rolled their eyes at him when he shared his polar bear joke (Q: How do you catch a polar bear? A: You make a hole in the ice and line it with peas. When the bear goes in to take a pea, you kick him in the ice hole), but secretly adored that they had such a goofy advisor.

jay martino

I get teary-eyed just thinking about what an amazing man Jay was. He has touched the lives of so many.

This past weekend, I attended Jay’s ceremony with my CMS family. I didn’t get answers to my questions. A part of me was still angry, still confused. But something changed over the course of the ceremony.

As the slideshow played at the front of the room, my eyes continued staring at the doorway. People did not stop trickling in. By the end of the ceremony, people lined the walls, filled in every crevice, and congregated in the room next door just to be able to hear the stories.

People fucking love Jay.

jay martino

And the most ironic thing is you would have no idea. Because Jay made you feel special. He made you feel like you were the most important person in that moment and that you were all that mattered. And he had the ability to make every single person in that damn room feel that sense of importance.

There is no question that Jay was taken from us way too early. But he packed 150 years of living in his 54 years of life. His best friend, Scott, said it best. “If I was mad at God for taking Jay from us, it would be a slap in the face to all the great things that Jay was. And all the great things he made us.”

Jay – we love you so much. You make us great. And you are with us every day.

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Comments

  13. He sounds like an amazing man. I’m thinking a lot about grief and loss these days. Health and financial security are things we can take care of and protect, but can’t be guaranteed of. The only things we get to keep as constants against what fate has in store for us are our integrity and the love in our hearts.
    Axel (@ Iron Rogue) recently posted…December 12th: In Loving MemoryMy Profile

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