“It’s difficult to choose which memory best captures Jim. I have so many, ranging from Jim teaching me the proper method to test for shoulder impingement to Jim gushing to me about his new girlfriend, Jen, when we accidentally bumped into each other at the MCA last winter. But there is one memory in particular that I would like to share about Jim that I believe encompasses the incredible person that he was and will be remembered as.

It was Halloween of 2006. Ai and Amin, Pam and Jan, and Mila and I had decided to attend the MRFF Halloween Party at Goose Island. A couple of us even dressed-up--Pam and Jan in a dirndl and lederhosen, respectively, and I had been original enough to put on a witch’s hat. The party started out quietly with the usual—a couple of drinks and gossip about RIC. Then Jim showed up. We all knew Jim, but not very well yet. It was still near the beginning of the academic year, and we were probably more in awe of Jim than anything.

Jim had also decided to dress-up . . . as a human dartboard. With real darts. Of course, Jim had also brought swimming goggles for protection (he used his hands to protect other sensitive regions when Mila took a turn at throwing the darts). None of us knew what to think. Who would ever devise a Halloween costume that entails sharp metal objects being thrown at you by inebriated people? When I asked him if he was afraid of getting stuck, he just smiled and said, “I’ll be alright.” But that was Jim. He trusted everyone, but he also liked living on the edge. Jim was also the first to volunteer to sing karaoke, and eventually had the whole RIC crew sing “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Our evening ended up with multiple costume exchanges, including Mila in Jim’s dartboard, and an infamous picture of Jim wearing Pam’s blond braided wig. I was amazed that he could so easily walk into a place where he knew so few people, and walk out knowing almost the entire room. But Jim that had ease about him—he was friendly and disarming, and most importantly, he was genuine, a quality everyone who met him could immediately appreciate.

With every passing, there are tears, there is sorrow, and there is the inevitable question of ‘why’. Jim was one of those people whose light burned so bright in life, that the world is that much darker in his absence. We will miss you, Jim.”

Sharon Gohari, MD
PGY4, RIC