Tomorrow marks one month since the sudden and tragic passing of Jason Dove, AKA Jay Dove AKA J.D. AKA Jolly Lolly AKA Jay Bird AKA Doves in Love, though simply known to most of us as Jay. He was a husband, a father, a son, a brother, and a great friend to many. Jay was loved, respected, and appreciated by numerous people, all of whom have been effected by this tragedy.
Every morning I woke up I kept hoping this was all just a bad dream, but alas such is not the case. Now 30 days later I am still in shock, and find myself searching for the words to express my sorrow.
I met Jay back in high school around 1987/88’ and have many great memories of him gracing my life over the years. As fate would have it, we all grow up, start families, face responsibilities, which in turn limits the time we get to spend with our old friends.
With that said, the true bonds of friendship never die, as years can pass by yet when we get to see our true friends it’s like a day has never passed since we last saw them. Such was the case with Jay, who will forever be in my heart and be apart of my life despite him no longer being here.
I’ve lost many loved ones over the last 15 years, but losing Jay really hit me hard, more so than my own family members I’ve lost. It’s one thing to lose a loved one, but what makes this even harder is my friendship with his widow Julie aka Jules, whom I met back in 1984 when we started grade 6 at Williams Parkway. We became best friends, and she was really my only close female friend growing up.
Who would of ever known that years later 2 of my great friends would end up dating, marrying, having kids, and living a happy life together. So as I said, it’s one thing to lose a loved one, but it’s a whole other world when said loved one is attached to another loved one. My heart truly goes out to her, as well as his children Randy, Kennedy & Campbell, not to mention his family, co-workers, and friends from all walks of life.
Jay was a hard working man who was always on the go, doing whatever it took to provide for his family, although he still found the time to get his little naps in when feasible. He lived his life the way he wanted to, and never compromised his integrity or his beliefs for anyone or anything, a special trait that unfortunately a lot of people on this planet cannot proclaim. In short he was a real one and true till’ death.
Tomorrow not only marks one month since we lost him, but it will also marks the date for Jay’s celebration of life, where we will leave our sadness and mourning at home as we remember the great times and great memories of him, and what a great human being he was. I hope to see you there as we share our fond remembrance of him and celebrate the life of an amazing individual who touched the lives of many.
As I struggle to find the words to express myself, I would like to add some links from previous blog posts of mine that include memories and stories of Jay that we can reflect on, and for my readers who didn’t know him, this will give you a window into the life of the man that was taken from this world much too soon.
In closing I would like to say take action in your life now. By that I mean don’t think about doing something, don’t ponder an idea, rather act out your thoughts with gusto and swiftness. Reach out to your loved ones, hug the people close to you, tell them how important they are to you and how much you love them, contact that dear old friend you’ve been thinking about, and live for the moment every day of your life, as none of us know when it will be our last day. Life is short and it moves by in the blink of an eye. We can’t go back in time, we can’t change the past, but we can take charge of the present and the future every morning that we wake up breathing.
I miss you and love you Jay, until we meet on the other side…
*SIDE NOTE* Some of these older blog posts may just have a blurb or mention of Jay, while others will be stories involving him. These are laid out in chronological order from when I first met him.
http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2013/02/heavy-metal-party-pt-2.html
http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2013/03/mike-c.html
http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2013/04/shut-up-be-happy.html
http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2013/06/herbie.html
http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2013/12/roll-call.html
http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2013/12/woodstock-91-pt1.html
http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2013/12/woodstock-91-pt2.html
http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2014/08/big-fuckin-bender.html
http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2015/03/party-animals-from-hell-pt1.html
http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2015/03/party-animals-from-hell-pt2.html
http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2015/04/party-animals-from-hell-pt4.html (pt.3)
http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2015/04/party-animals-from-hell-pt4_8.html
http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2017/01/welcome-to-malton.html
http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-death-of-96.html
These are excerpts from a blog which is essentially the story of my life in a nutshell, I am only in 1997 as far as the timeline goes, so there will be future posts as time goes on, some of which will include stories of Jay, thanks for reading.
