I met Tom at Murchison Jr High. We were both in English class, with Ms. Matzke as our teacher, and we rapidly became friends. I am not sure how to continue this tribute and do justice to Tom. It's the sort of thing I really need to spend a year or two writing and revising. But, for a summary, over the next year he became more of a brother to me than merely a friend. We spent a great deal of time together, and my family loved him as well. Many an adventure did we have, whether on our jaunts to Hamilton's Pool, Enchanted Rock, Paleface Park, or to pubs as Magee Mae's, Antone's and Threadgills, or on backpack trips in Texas and in New Mexico. We had similar world views, and similar sense of humor. He went off to USCD for undergrad, as he had family out there, when I went to UT. At xmas or in the summers, when together, we'd catch up on our pre-med progress and our dating life challenges. Initially, we planned to both go to med school and be roommates, but he took a year off to work then took the path to dental school. We both lived in Dallas, and tried to get together as much as our busy life allowed, which was not often. His old Volvo station wagon was so decrepit that on more than one occasion he had to cancel a visit as it broke down! We shared many a ride from Dallas to Austin and back when we had a chance to visit. Later in life, after being in his own practice, he ended up working with my dentist father and my dentist brother. Tom made it up to Wenatchee to visit and do some backpacking with me, and whenever I made it to Austin, seeing him was a big priority. My kids knew him from their earliest years, and they still, as in the past, refer to him as "Uncle Haddad." It was a hit in my heart when he told me about his cancer. We all hoped for the best, but it seemed that at every stage of treatment, he got the short straw. I was with him in hospice, last on the afternoon before he passed, and felt a bit of survivor guilt. Why him, of all people? Among his many qualities, Tom was one of the gentlest souls I have known, never was one to whine or complain, was loyal, honest, a hard worker, bright, funny (quick with some of the best wry humor comments you could ever imagine), just a great person all around. Tom, as the years pass, and we all get older and have more to reflect upon and more to remember, I dearly miss you. I raise my glass and think of the song "The Parting Glass"