I went to grade school with Jack Kamus at St. John's in Luzerne. Jack always had the coolest toys and was extremely generous with them. I once ran into him unexpectedly while he was unloading a snowmobile from a trailer. I think we were around 11 or 12 at the time. Before he went off riding, he offered me a ride on it and it was one of those incredible childhood thrills that I never forgot. He really didn't have to offer me a snowmobile ride, it was just something he did spontaneously.

Jack was also among the first to get a motorcycle. I got a very similar model and we used to ride them together. One time we were going up a steep, rocky trail and I downshifted from 2nd to 1st gear because I thought that the bike was ready to stall only to realize that it was already in 1st gear and I inadvertently put the bike into neutral. The bike immediately started rolling backward down the narrow mountain trail while picking up speed. As I went backward, I passed Jack who was coming up behind me and I watched in amazement how he coaxed his bike up that steep trail while pondering the eventual outcome of my trip down that hill backwards.

I crashed the bike and was laying there feeling a combination of panic and defeat, wondering what to do next when I looked up and saw Jack at the top of the hill sitting on his bike looking at me. He was just watching intently, presumably to see what I'd do next. I wasn't hurt and the bike was laying on its side, still running and spilling fuel on the exhaust pipe which was sizzling from the heat.

While considering my options I realized that it was possible to get up that hill. Jack had just shown me how to do it! So I picked up the bike, got back on it, and rode it to the top where Jack was waiting. I didn't know what he would say to me after I managed to perform such a boneheaded stunt. Instead of teasing me, he said, "Lee, I knew you were going to get back on that bike and ride it up here because you've got what it takes."

It was one of those defining moments in my life. Most of my friends would have had a good laugh at my expense at what must have looked like a comical series of events, but not Jack. He knew that I was feeling foolish for what I had done and instead of focusing on what I did wrong, he pointed out what I did right and gave me the confidence in myself to know that no matter what happens, I can pick myself up, dust myself off, and carry on. People all need friends like Jack who know how to offer encouragement when they're down. I'm sure Jack is doing the same thing for us now, and he's doing it from a heavenly vantage point.

Even at the young age of 13, Jack knew that if you treat people as if they were what they ought to be, you help them to become what they are capable of becoming. I'm glad to have had him as my friend.