We might have titled this, “The Good Die Young.” Or simply, “Nicholas, the Happy Warrior.”
Each of us who knew and loved him feels this deep void within our very souls. Our hurt is that he was so good and so young, and as we look back on history, it seems so many wonderful pilgrims like him passed through this life having seemingly left before their time. The good die young.
How could a childlike teen like Nick, in the midst of his silent battles, also represent to us a…”Happy Warrior”? Well, it’s pretty simple: As a wrestler and in martial arts, we could see in Nick the heart of a Warrior…A Happy Warrior. He smiled in the midst of his battles.
Our fathers, they told us stories of chasing the enemy back to Berlin and fighting hand to hand with them in the South Pacific. These men were our heroes, but they also told us of their young friends who lost their lives prematurely on foreign soil, never to come back. We were told that these were young Warriors who died too young in combat. Nick became a casualty of a different kind of war. Nick was in such combat, but he was a Happy Warrior…we cannot forget his smile in the midst of it all.
Like the young warriors in battle, unaware and by surprise did he prematurely receive a mortal would that took him from us. But be of good cheer, because my favorite scripture tells us what is really happening: “What the enemy meant for evil, God will turn for good.” Don’t be fooled how Nick left this earth. He was a casualty of combat. Yes, Nick was one of the good who died young, but as a Happy Warrior.
We will never forget Nick’s smile, his laughter and that wave he gave to everyone. And be of good cheer…we will see him again.