RIP Tom "T-Rock" Eddie (1961-2008)

Everyone,I found out first thing this morning that my Phinfever partner, Tom Eddie, died of cancer. It was an absolute shock to me as he was very upbeat at the end of last month heading into the final stages of treatment. When he did not show up at the site for a week, I was starting to worry about him as he could never stay away. He was so confident that he would come out of his treatments that he and I were planning on meeting together here in Raleigh, NC where I live. In fact, it was here a year ago where he was complaining about the unbearable back pain that he had. The next week he had it checked out and found out that he had lymphoma.I met Tom back in 1999 or so when he asked if he could write for the site. Our friendship started to grow when I created a cheesy little message board for the site and it was only he, Anthony (Makchel) and myself talking to each other for a couple of months. Over the years he and I worked together and always seemed to be on the same page when it concerned the site. We both had the same vision for the site. Whenever I became burned out he would push us forward and visa-versa. It was a great partnership that we had. In the past year he worked on the site through a lot of pain because of the cancer. I know he is no longer in any pain.One thing that I really liked about Tom was his transparency. He spoke his mind and you always knew where you stood with him. He had a good sense of humor, too. it was obvious that he loved his wife and kids. Every time I talked to him on the phone he would tell me something about his family. He always talked about his wife Andrea who was the love of his life. Spiritually Tom was taking that step towards Jesus and we talked privately about it. I have no doubt that I will see him once again. I am going to post his last email to me and his email from his wife. I hope she does not mind, but she does not know how close we all can get on a forum even though we do not see each other face to face. For those who believe, she could really use our prayers right now.You know, I find myself fighting back the tears and it makes all of this Dolphins stuff seem so irrelevant at the moment. God bless you Tom and thanks for all the great times we have had.In Christ,DaveGuys,Next week I start the stem cell process so this weekend will be my last show until the beginning or middle of August… Next Thursday they install a line or catheter to extract the stem cells and every day I have to go to the hospital to have it checked until they start getting stem cells… From then on it could be as long as 5 weeks before I am back home, 3 weeks in the hospital and then 2 weeks in an apartment nearby…Just letting you know…TThis is Andrea. My husband passed away on 7/9/08. I am sorry I waited so long to let you know, but it has been and still is a very hard time for me. I just couldn't get it together to figure out how to respond until now, and I still don't know for sure that you will get this. My brain is like it is in a fog. I have never used this site before so it took me a few tries to figure it out. I am lucky enough that he saved his login. While he was very much involved with the Miami Dolphins, I have been involved in animal rescue, so I don't know anything of what he did online, but we spent the rest of our time being very close.This is what I read at the memorial service:"God saw you were getting tired and a cure was not to be, so he put his arms around you and whispered come with me. With tearful eyes I watched you suffer and saw you fade away; although I loved you dearly, I could not make you stay. A Golden Heart stopped beating, hard working hands to rest. God broke my heart to prove me, He only takes the Best."This is so true.I really would like to be able to get Tom's login name and password to come back now and again to read all of his posts and pm's from the past. My husband is my friend, my love, my happiness, my life. Right now I don't even want to wake up anymore, so it would really mean so much to me to have some sort of link to him. He used a company computer so all of this will be erased soon. But in the end, I just wanted to let you know that he won't be back.Thank you more...