A great guy died today. Stephen Cox was a teammate, father, and husband. He had been battling cancer for several years. Several surgeries, hospital stays and the chronic pain never seemed to lower his spirits. Of course I only saw him occasionally when he felt well enough to play hockey. So I guess I saw him on the "good" days or maybe he put on a macho locker room face in front of the guys. I don't know. What I do know is he loved to play with a competitive streak a mile long. He was the oldest guy on the team by several years yet he seemed to be in superior shape. He was rarely out of breath while the younger guys panted breathlessly on the bench. I used to tell him he wasn't really trying. He would just flash his squinty eyed broad smile and tell me to piss off.
He was always smiling and having a good time tossing jokes around like quick draw artist. He was smart funny and proud of his family. His kids and wife would occasionally come to the games and cheer us on. They had to have been bored silly as our games are not the most viewer friendly activities in the world. They would hang out after the games in the parking lot and relive our heroics on the ice over a couple beers. They really seem like a close knit family and I feel terrible for their loss.
Goodbye Coxy, maybe now you'll cover the points when the puck is in your zone. The good people always seem to get taken from us while jackass' are free to roam the earth. Stephen seemed like he lived the life he wanted to live. I think when you get down to it that's all we can hope for in this world.
Vaya con dios Stephen.
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