James A. "Jim" Snead

They say you're lucky to have one true friend in a lifetime. I was blessed and lucky enough to have Jim as my best friend for over 50 years. I find myself reaching for the phone to call him, only to remember he won't pick up.

Our lives diverged in thousands of ways over the years, but the anchor of our friendship never moved. Jim was the person I could always count on to understand without judgment, to listen without reservation, and to celebrate every single joy with total enthusiasm.

Jim and I met at NSU in 1975 as we both majored in Art. We loved and critiqued each others art. Jim stayed in the fine arts and I went into Commercial/Advertising Art. Twenty-five years later, I ran into one of his old instructors who said "Jim never needed any art classes." Although my job carried me from state to state, Jim always made time to travel to spend time with me, and I with him.

He was a selfless friend and was a fine conversationalist often talking and listening for hours, he was a wonderful dancer, a lover of home cooked meals, he loved a good football game and was a brilliant artist. One of his paintings still grace my home. His sense of humor carried me through some difficult times. Jim was part of the foundation of my life.

The hardest part is not losing the big moments, but losing the small, quiet ones. The inside jokes. The casual advice. The shared silence that needed no words. That's the space where the missing hurts the most.

To have been loved by Jim was one of the greatest privileges of my life.