I first met Tony in February of 1995. I had just transferred to the office that Tony was working at. We were casual friends until one day in May, he asked me for a ride home from work, because I lived right around the corner from him. That's when our friendship really started, we talked the whole way home, and never stopped. Tony and I were so much alike that it scared us sometimes. We used to joke that we were the same person, I his female counterpart, and he my male counterpart. We always understood what each other was feeling or thinking, which helped a lot since neither of us were quick to voice those things.

I feel privileged to have been a friend of Tony's. He was an amazing person who had such a huge impact on so many lives. When he first learned that he had cancer we used to talk about how he was able to focus on what was important in his life, and the nuances that usually effect day to day living no longer bothered him. We talked about the rest of his life, and how he would use his cancer as a positive experience that would change it. How could a traffic jam possibly annoy him after what he'd been through? I used to think that he derived some of his strength and his positive attitude from this new focus that he'd gained. He was such a strong person throughout his illness, he hardly ever let it get him down. He beat almost every prediction that his doctors gave him, almost taking the doctor's predictions as a new challenge he'd been given. This new perspective on life isn't something that Tony got a long time to enjoy, but I consider the perspective a gift that he left me and everyone else he knew. Whenever things get out of sorts in my life I think about Tony and his strength, put things back into perspective, and thank him again for that gift.

I have a gazillion memories of Tony, every one of them so very precious now. I'm thankful that I have them, because sometimes they are what help me get through missing him so much. Here are some to share....

The first time that I went to a Maryland basketball game with him, I was completely amazed that this screaming lunatic next to me was the same calm guy that I knew. I never knew Tony could or would yell that loud until that day. His passion for Maryland basketball was amazing!

When we both lived in Ballston, we were so excited when Carpool opened up. We finally had "a bar that we could walk home from." Sometimes we'd leave work early and go shoot pool there before it got too crowded. We always bet on something. He still owes me a song that he was supposed to sing to me, "my choice". I was always amazed that he had no trouble singing in front of hundreds of people, but he'd never sing that song just to me. It's ok though, because I still owe him a homemade pie, of his choice.

When we'd go to doctor's appointments together we used to joke about getting news about his health like ordering from a menu. We'd be waiting for the doctor to come in and tell us how his last round of chemo went, and we'd be talking about sending back the diagnosis if we didn't like it. "Sorry Doc, we had that last time and it was a little too tough. If you could take that back we'd like to try something else."