The morning we climbed the Sea-to-Sky in a downpour, Jay didn't say a word for the last hour — just kept turning the pedals with that quiet grin of his. At the summit he finally turned to me: "Best one yet, eh?" Somehow it always was.
He showed up at my graduation in a borrowed suit two sizes too big, grinning ear to ear. I asked why he bothered driving eight hours to be there. He just shrugged: "Because you'd do it for me." That's Smoop — never makes a fuss, always there.
He can build or fix anything. Genuinely. The shed he helped me put up still stands true after a decade of storms. He'd refuse a beer for it — said the work itself was the thanks.