RIP Tommy

Found out this morning that another friend of mine passed away- Tommy Painter.  I met Tommy through Jamie, and now they're both gone- this year has really sucked.  Tommy was the owner of Body Art Tattoos in Berryville, Va.  I met Tommy some time around 96 or 97, at a convention (I don't even remember which one).  I was going to the convention and Jamie told me that his friend Tommy was gonna be there and I should say hello.  As soon as I told Tommy that I was friends with Jamie it was like Tommy and I had been friends for years.  He was one of, if not THE nicest guy in this business.  Every time I saw Tommy he would give me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.  I learned a lot from Tommy about machine building, and any time Tommy was around, his good cheer was infectious.  It had been a couple of years since I had spoken to Tommy- mostly because I stopped working tattoo conventions.  I heard that Tommy was especially upset when he heard about Jamie's death, and I had been meaning to call him ever since, I just never got around to it- now it's too late.  I am not a religious person- I consider myself an Agnostic, so I really don't have any beliefs as far as some big fancy afterlife is concerned, but if there is something else, I know that Jamie and Tommy are laughing (probably at our expense) right now.  RIP Tommy Painter, you will be missed by many many people.