I’ve lived in Vancouver now for over 18 years. Believe it or not, despite my old and rugged exterior looks that’s over half of my lifetime. During this time just like most of you I’ve gone through many ups and downs. I’ve made many friends and I’ve lost many more friends. As we all know, no loss of a companion or loved one is ever easy to overcome and I don’t think we ever truly recover from the loss entirely. We lost my Stepfather last year to cancer at the young age of 65. As difficult as it was for me to deal with the passing away of my father I could not even imagine how difficult it was for my mother. To lose someone that you wake up next to everyday for year after year and share birthdays, holidays and other significant moments with, who takes care of you when you’re sick and not feeling well and who can cheer you up when you’re feeling down just by their smile alone, is a loss that can never be replaced.
I myself have been to over a dozen funerals in the last ten years. Unfortunately most of the people who’s funerals I’ve attended were much too young to die. This is the reality of life though as death does not discriminate against age sometimes. None of the friends and family that I have lost over the years will ever be forgotten. However there is one particular person who I think about every single day. One person who had more of an impact on my life then I believe he will ever know. One person who has the ability to continue to motivate me each day to push forward and become a better person even though he is no longer with us today. And this person is my best friend who was actually more like a brother to me, Ewan Mackay.
Ewan was actually the very first person I met when I moved to Vancouver almost two decades ago. We met in our local Highschool’s Detention Centre where we were both sentenced on a regular basis for our rebellious teenage acts of vandalism and immature pranks that we would continue to commit for years to come. Ewan also introduced me to the majority of my group of friends that I still have today. If Ewan was friends with someone he made sure that you were friends with them too. He always made everyone feel at ease and comfortable. He was a very likeable and easy going person who never said a bad word about anyone. Ewan really was the type of person who would give his shirt off his back and the shoes on his feet to anyone who needed them. And I was lucky enough to have been able to call him my best friend.
In 2010 Ewan was diagnosed with a rare form of skin cancer. He opted to start chemotherapy immediately. Even though he lost his hair and was very sick at times due to the intensity that chemotherapy treatment can cause not once did he complain. In fact during this time I was prepping for a local bodybuilding show and he would text me on a regular basis to find out HOW I WAS DOING!!!! This man was unbelievably caring and honestly without a doubt one of the most selfless people whom I’ve ever met. Unfortunately the chemotherapy did not work and the cancer metastasized throughout the rest of Ewan’s body including his brain. On February 18th, 2011 my best friend Ewan passed away.
Now at this point of my blog I’m sure you’re wondering what this story has to do with diet and training. Well to be perfectly honest it has absolutely nothing to do with either. However this is my blog, my company, my website and my career and I’m going to write about whatever I damn well want to write about. And one of reasons I feel confident enough to write my own weekly blogs and run my own Personal Training company is because of Ewan. After Ewan’s passing I realized as cliche as it may sound that life really is short and therefore it’s important to live it to it’s absolute fullest. To me that means that I’ve got to be okay with taking risks, constantly failing, facing rejection, embracing succession and be willing to always get up even when life keeps knocking me down.
I’ll be honest, I don’t wake up feeling motivated everyday to go to work. And sure there are days when I skip my own workout. And yes I do occasionally cheat on my diet. But I’ve never considered giving up on my business, our clients, my health and my relationships. And this is all directly because of Ewan. Ewan may have passed away at the age of 25 years old yet he impacted so many peoples lives during his short period of time on this planet. The amount of people who attended his funeral alone demonstrated this as the church was so packed some people had to stand outside!
Today would have been Ewan’s 31st birthday. I wrote my blog this week to honour this special occasion and to also thank my friend for giving me the strength and confidence to continue to live my life on my own terms. For if it wasn’t for Ewan I believe I would have been too afraid to take the risks needed to get where I am today and to continue to find strength and willpower to continue to grow and achieve all the goals I wish to accomplish in the foreseeable future.
So Happy Birthday Ewan!
Your Friend and Your Brother,
Nick Cosgrove