“Saying Goodbye to My Friend, Dave Bilello”

I just received a terrible phone call.

My friend and brother Dave Bilello died just a few minutes ago.

Shock, and tears, and sorrow... and maybe a little relief. He was suffering, badly, and now his nightmare is over.

And ours begins.

Dave is the crankiest, most caustic, most irritating, and without a doubt the funniest person I've ever known in my entire life. Every friend he has considers it a point of honor to be able to imitate him at the right moment.

He's a New Yorker, from Long Island.

Everybody loves Dave. Even (especially) those that couldn't stand him. He's a paradox: the attitude of a giant, or a jock, or a genius... impossibly stuffed into a small, frail, asthmatic, insomniac body.

Playing Basketball with Dave -- even just a game of HORSE! -- is a lesson in pain and humility. Elbows, man... sharpened to a razor's edge.

What Dave lacked in physique he more than made up for with his wit. There are certain things that one can say or do around anyone who knows him, which immediately bring Dave into the conversation. Some examples?

"Bicuspid of a Keebler Elf"
"Bicuspid of a Great White Shark"
"Nephie"
Making a loud thumping sound come from the floor, without appearing to move a muscle
"Clacking" his teeth, repeatedly
One quick, frustrated sigh... with his mouth half open
Wrecking his cars!
"I just want to get home alive!"

Dave and I were roommates for a few years. First we shared an apartment with Eric and Bonny Pride, and later with Mark Drake. When I moved out (work related), Jed took my place, and the three of them have lived there ever since.

I have so many memories of Dave... I've known him for most of my life. Things changed some after I met Corinne, but Dave's still one of the few people in my 'inner circle' of friends.

I don't want to believe it.

Sleep on now, Dave. Like those who went before you, we know you'll be back, better than ever before.

Romans 8:18-21
18* For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19* For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the
manifestation of the sons of God.
20* For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly,
but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21* Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the
bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children
of God.