#jonathan jenkins

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An ode to Jonathan Jenkins.

Everyone has Their People. Because of where I worked and what I did, and where I was happiest, most of My People are Media people. And yesterday, one of them died.

Jonathan Jenkins. We weren't friends, but we were colleagues - we clocked a lot of time on the court/crime beat in Edmonton. We weren't competing media - I was with the CBC and he was with the Edmonton Sun. We sat in those painful pews in courtrooms, swapped notes for accuracy. He was an old school print journalism type - a little older and a lot more experienced. I was younger and stroppier.

When we ran into eachother here - different courthouse, different city - we did snicker. Big leagues for the kids from the prairies. What were the chances. And then he went to cover the legislature, I did my thing and left.

Always a wave, a hey how are ya. Colleagues. Friendly. Not friends. He did hockey and rugby and had kids and was that great guy who set up an event called Newsapolooza where reporters would form bands and raise money for children's charities.

And then, social media. Where you can keep in touch but hear the saddest things. On Facebook I heard he had cancer. He'd heard through twitter I'd come down with something you can't pronounce. I'd heard about it late, the cancer.

I'm kind of surprised how gutted I am. He was That Guy. The one who would help you out with notes if you missed what was said in court or share with you what had happened or was going to happen.

He was a better person than most. Certainly than me. He was 50. It was cancer. It was fast. I'm crushed but those who were his friends and his family must be devastated. And all the while I can't understand why I've got my painful hard to pronounce disease and still not be dead, where a nice guy like that can be gone in a flash.

The last messages we exchanged were my asking if he needed anything, and he said he was really in the market for good thoughts. I don't pray but I do "keep in mind" when asked, so I've thought a lot about those days in Edmonton. He saved my reporting butt regularly. 

He was an absolutely great guy and great talent, a delight to all and who was committed to helping kids.

And when you lose one of those people, it hits you in the solar plexus.

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