by Barry Girolamo

Created on: July 11, 2011

We were traveling north on the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey, heading back to Long Island, New York, after having spent a couple of days in Atlantic City, vacationing. As was my habit, I stopped at the Cheesequake rest area before heading to the “Outer Bridge Crossing”, to gas-up and maybe grab a quick bite.

My wife was sitting in the front, and my son-in-laws grandfather, Jim, was sleeping in the back, as he normally did. At least, I thought he was sleeping. As I pulled up to the pump, I handed my credit card to the attendant, and than turned and looked at Jim to see if he wanted to wake up and grab a bite to eat with us.

I called his name, but he didn’t answer. So I shook his leg, and called his name again, only louder. He still didn’t respond, and that’s when I realized that he had passed. He was dead, having left the world peacefully while he was asleep in the back seat of my car.

Jim McCue lived in Florida, and was retired. I first met him at the wedding of my daughter to his grandson, which he attended and celebrated with family and friends. He was suffering from a rare type of cancer, which was terminal, and he wore a patch over his right eye, as it had been lost to the disease.

He never complained about his health issues, and had worked two jobs well into his early seventies, until he was forced into retirement due to the serious nature of his cancer. He had lost his wife several years earlier, and lived with his daughter-in-law.

As I got to know him, we quickly became friends, and I would take him to the Jersey Shore with us when I could, whenever he was in town. This was to be his last trip, and I kind of sensed it when I saw him. He had really deteriorated in the year which had passed since I had seen him last, and I had the gut feeling that this was to be his final hurrah. He seemed frail and weak, and spent most of his time on the couch watching television or sleeping.

While in Atlantic City visiting one of the many casinos there, he would enjoy sitting at the tables playing cards, and this time I decided to join him at the table where he was seated so that I could spend more time with him. Once he sat down to play, he could stay put for twelve to fourteen hours straight. He loved the social contact and camaraderie which would develop between the other players, and he really came to life. Even on this last visit, he suddenly would become very alert once seated at a table, and his mind

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