I was enjoying a quiet evening last week when Florin came from the club with incredible and sad news: one of the club members has passed away. I thought it would be one of the older gentlemen, and I was preparing to hear one of the familiar names – you know that feeling when something wrong happened and you wait for those few moments until to hear what exactly happened to pass. Then he said: John. A rapid brain-check and a stunning me: Kokoris? Yes.

I had to sit down – John was (as many trapshooters are) a person full of life, you could always be sure you’ll find a good laugh in his presence. Not only that, he was what I will call still young, definitely not a vet… I knew he’s been sick for a while, but when I talked to him last (sometimes in the summer) he was confident he was over the worst and recovering. Apparently, it wasn’t the illness that took him away, but the all-so-dreaded heart attack.

As I was trying to comprehend what our trapshooting lives will be without John’s larger-than-life attitude, I became sadder and sadder: there won’t be any jokes from him from now on, no smiles when you shoot well, no comforting pats when you shoot not that well…

May you rest in peace, John (and smoke each one from now on, up there) – I have you and your family in my prayers!

And so I was again reminded to slow down and enjoy every single moment – to tell my dear ones they are loved, to meet my friends as often as possible, and to laugh a lot. Life is so precious and we spend way too much time being unhappy when happiness is just there, at the tips of our fingers. We just need to reach it and grab it.