I’ve known Jim since childhood.  He passed away in his sleep last Wednesday. He was 54.

The Simple Life

Jim was a simple man. I liked that about it him.

It was honest.

He gravitated toward general labor, a working man. A working man doing simple jobs.  But don’t let that fool you into thinking that simplicity equals slow, dull, unintelligent, or incapable. Jim was none of those things.

A lot of people would meet Jim and quickly categorize him. Put him in a box with a label they were comfortable with and move on.

It was their loss.

I sometimes wonder how many people ever took the time to actually talk with the man? Admittedly he was kind of shy, not willing to put himself forward in most situations. But conversations with him could be surprising. Especially if the subject was art or art history.  His knowledge was extensive and his understanding broad. One might assume one was conversing with an Art History professor.  But he had no formal education. Just a job he loved, being a night security guard for an arts center. I believe this was truly his favorite job of all the jobs he held. And in his time there he absorbed everything about art and it’s history. He could recall it still today some 30 years later, as though it were yesterday.

Being simple does not mean one is stupid. As a matter of fact having a discussion with Jim could be quite humbling.  I truly believe that he had a photographic memory, and if he wanted to remember something, if it mattered to him, he would.  I can’t remember what I had for lunch three days ago, let alone the intricate plot details of some book, or television show, or movie, or art show, or conversation that I had twenty or thirty years ago.

The Captain of His Soul

Some would say that Jim’s life was like a small boat tossed this way and that by storm-tossed waters, in need of rescue. That his life and the things he had in life, or lack thereof, were because of a lack of ambition, or attitude, or inability. They’re wrong.

Some would say that he was a loner. Maybe so.  But it’s not for a lack of want, or need of social and family contact. Yes he was shy and somewhat introverted.  But a life where one’s own choices are paramount can be a solitary life. Even though the price of that might being hurt by those closest to him, and loneliness.