From the Desk of The DBeazy One-Man-Think-Tank

Foreword

Today I am publicly announcing for the first time my website, dbeazylife.com. I have been working on the site for about a month now so that there would be content there when readers click on the link. Hopefully, you will find something you like here and will come back often.  Today is also Super Bowl Sunday and it is the first time in a long time that the Kansas City Chiefs will represent the American Football Conference. It is a big day for the Chiefs and a big day for me, and as such, I wanted to start with a special post. I hope you enjoy.

When it comes to Pro Football, many people know that my favorite team has been the Denver Broncos for most of my life.  I know that it is unusual that someone from South Mississippi would support a team from the AFC West, but there you have it.  Most people I know are New Orleans Saints fans, but I know people who support for obvious reasons, the Miami Dolphins, the Dallas Cowboys, or the Pittsburg Steelers. As far as I know, though, I have only known one person who was a diehard fan of the Kansas City Chiefs.  Later today, for the first time in 50 years, the Chiefs will take the field in Super Bowl LIV.  So I would like to tell the world about Shawn “Chunk” Mitchell, my friend, the Chiefs fan.

I first met Chunk in 1998 when I enrolled my daughters in Columbia Academy in Columbia, Mississippi.  Chunk was a year behind Brandi, my oldest daughter, so I’m pretty sure he would have been in the seventh grade.  CA is a small school so it is common for kids to develop friendships with students a year or two older or younger than themselves, and this was the case with Chunk. Of course, as I started to learn the names of Brandi’s schoolmates, I wanted to know who their parents were.  I didn’t have to ask when I learned Chunk’s last name. I remembered his father when I was in high school.

Every time I saw Chunk, he would greet me with a giant smile and he had his own style of handshake.  But it wasn’t just me, this was Chunk.  This was the sweet loving spirit that existed within him.  Chunk was this way with everyone he knew.  That infectious smile would lift your spirits from any mood.

I watched these kids become a tight-knit group as they grew in age; they grew closer to each other.  It was known that knocking on my door was not necessary. Melissa and I wanted these kids to feel at home here and there were several times when Brandi’s friends crashed in our living room.

Before my eyes, I watched those kids grow to adulthood. I would run into Chunk here and there.  I might see him at a service station or a ballgame and I’d inquire as to what was going on in his life.  He might be in an umpire’s uniform and on his way to call games at the little league park in town.  I might see him with a young lady and he was always quick to smile and introduce her, always with that smile. One day I saw him with a baby and he said, “Mr. Donny, this is Emma, my daughter.” He was so proud.

I never figured out how Chunk and I ended up on a party bus celebrating New Year in 2011, but there he was greeting me with that smile and as always, “What’s up, Mr. Donny?” Later I found out that Chunk had been through a rough spot, but had worked through it and was doing great.  He and I shared a passion for Texas Hold’em, and frequently ended up somewhere late at night, playing cards and swapping stories.  I considered him to be a very capable poker player with a talent for calculating odds and outs in any hand. It was at a poker tournament when he proudly told me he was going to be a father again.

Chunk and I were in the same fantasy football league, and I think you can see by now that for whatever reason, the thread of Chunk’s life and the thread of mine were often intertwined over the years. I often considered it one of the mysteries of life that a young man over 20 years my junior continued to appear and reappear in my life. It is a mystery for sure, but a blessing just the same. Then football season rolled around in 2018.  I had heard that Chunk had seen some trouble in his life, but I saw his team listed on the draft board when we got the fantasy football season underway, and I saw him in the parking lot as he was going to work at a grocery store in Columbia. Again he smiled and shook my hand.  We didn’t have time to speak, but it appeared to me that he had worked through his trouble and was back in the game.  But shortly after the fantasy season started, it appeared that Chunk wasn’t participating much in the league and I wondered if he was ok.

Then in January of 2019, I was at work (I work inside hospitals) when the call came over the intercom that a “Code Blue” was en route to the emergency room.  In a short while, I learned that Chunk had died as a result of domestic violence, and just like that, I knew I would never see my friend with the big smile again.  To this day I can’t wrap my brain around this tragedy, and question why.

All around the globe today, people are getting ready to watch Super Bowl LIV as the Kansas City Chiefs take on the San Francisco 49ers.  Generally, I would not have much interest in the game, but today, Chunk’s team is playing. I don’t know all that I don’t know about this world, this life, this universe in which we live, but I do know one thing for certain; Shawn “Chunk” Mitchell is on my mind today, and I know for certain that I am not the only one.