(1977-2001)

I first met Kacy in college at Wentworth. He was in one of my classes, which was taught by Professor Rooney. It was a literature course of some kind, so you can imagine how little Kacy wanted to be there. In fact, I don’t recall seeing him there all that often. I remember him being out for a period of three weeks or so. I believe he had a little mishap on his snowboard. I think he hit his head so hard he actually forgot which class he was supposed to be in.

I remember him coming to school on his brand-new red Honda VFR motorcycle. Eva saw him getting on his motorcycle one time and said, “Can I have a ride?” He turned around with a great big grin on his face, laughed and said, “sure”. She didn’t get her ride, but I knew at that point that I had to have a motorcycle of my own.

The first time Kacy and I hung out was on our trip to Laconia, New Hampshire for the big bike rally. There was a group of us riding up that day. But guess who was always in front? That’s right! Kacy was. He could not stand to be second. He was always first. It ended up being like this for every ride we went on together. If you so much as took the lead by a few inches, he would consider it a challenge. He would soon be racing you for the pole position. He always won.

After one of our biking trips, Kacy invited a bunch of us back to his house. It seems there was a big party going on. Most of Kacy’s family was there, along with half the neighborhood. I did not know what to expect. Most of the people were trashed! There was this one guy who just fell over. He knocked over a table and landed right on Kyle’s lap. There were also two women who decided to go in the hot tub fully clothed. I thought to myself, “These people are nuts. I love it!”

This was the first time Eva and I had the chance to meet Kyle, Sue, and Dick. I knew that day that I wanted to spend a lot of time hanging out with these people. Kyle was the posterchild for Men’s Health magazine. Sue was the beautiful blonde mother who undoubtedly was drooled over by many of Kacy and Kyle’s friends. And Dick was the handsome and successful businessman with a love for good cigars. What a perfect family!

I immediately began to think of Kacy as a brother that I never had. He had many great qualities. I looked up to him not only because he towered over me, but for the strength he possessed, the loyalty he had for family and friends, and passion for his work.

After Kacy’s motorcycle accident, it became apparent how much I cared for him. It was hard to actually leave his bedside. What made leaving less painful was his unbelievable attitude. “Shit happens”, he said. “What am I going to do, cry about it?” What amazed me even more was that less than three months after he lost his leg he was back to work. Even more amazing was that by winter he was out snowboarding. By springtime he went out and bought a brand new motorcycle. Getting on a bike again proved to me how strong he was. The will and strength of this man was unbelievable. And never once did I hear him feel sorry for himself.

Kacy was also a hard worker. His skills were unique. He had vision, which made him an unbelievable craftsman. I’ll never forget how excited he was when he finished his bar in the cellar. He called me to come over and “look at this piece of art”. A piece of art it was. It was beautiful. I know that when Kacy entered heaven, he went up to God and said, “Who built this place? Show me the blueprints. This is nothing compared to the Big Dig”. No job was ever too big for him. He would get it done.

He loved his family and his friends. I could tell how much his family meant to him. There was nothing he would do without letting his mom know. “Hey wench, I’m going for a ride”, Kacy would say to his mom. But she was smart. She gave it right back to him saying, “Be careful you little shit”. Not many mother son relationships are like this. You could tell that they were very close. And then there is Kyle. Kacy and Kyle were always up to little brotherly wars. One of such wars is evident if you go downstairs.

There are a few body-shaped holes in the walls that occurred during a pool match gone bad. It was basically always who can outdo the other. There was obviously a tight bond there that nothing could ever penetrate.

Kacy was the best friend I ever had. Yeah, we had our moments, but that’s what friends go through. We would meet at Joe’s almost every Thursday night to throw back a few drinks and think of new ways to make fun of eachother. He made up a nickname for me once. He started calling me NFF, which stands for “No Fun Frank”. Every time I said I was too tired to do something he would call me NFF. He knew it would bother me just enough so that I would get up and go out.

Eva and I were privileged enough to be asked to Barbados by Kacy and Kyle. What a great time we all had. I think one of the most memorable times was our trip on the Jolly Roger pirate ship. Kacy looked like he worked the ship. He had his pirate shirt on with his pirate bandana. His metal leg brought the character of a pirate to life. He was the hit of the ship. He was the first one to use the rope swing to go plunging into the ocean. Everyone cheered for him!

What I probably remember the most about Kacy is his personality and the expressions he used. He was always very upbeat and had this exhausting energy. He definitely had a lot in common with Jim Carey’s character in The Mask. He was always using expressions like “smokin” or “ah cha-cha-cha” and “oooooohhhh, how dooooooo”. But I think his favorite was “P-A-R-T-Y? Because I gotta”. And then there is his favorite song that goes something like “I smoke two joints in the morning, I smoke two joints at night, I smoke two joints in the afternoon, and then I feel alright”. It was just that carefree attitude that I loved about him. He always had that devilish grin on his face that had you anticipating his next trick. To put it simply, he was a blast to be around.

We feel very fortunate to have known Kacy, even if it was for only a brief time. I gained not only one brother, but two. I gained a whole other family. My family lives in Connecticut, so I don’t see them as often as I see Kyle, Sue and Dick. They’ve welcomed Eva and I into their lives with open arms.

The spirit of Kacy will always live on!