Jamie... 1995 - Gone From My Sight - I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other Then someone at my side says; "There, she is gone!" "Gone where?" Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port. Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says, "There, she is gone!" There are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!" And that is dying. - Henry Van Dyke Queen of Heaven, Mesa, Arizona James "Jamie" Sasser was the first of five children. He was an affectionate uncle, loving son, and a trustworthy friend. Jamie was involved in a car accident on August 30, 1978, which left him confined to wheelchair as a parapalegic. Jamie never let being in a wheelchair stop him from living, nor would he complain. He continued to have a full life despite not being able to walk. Jamie was an avid outdoorsman and was very active in wheelchair sports. In 1983, Jamie participated and completed a marathon from Windsor, Canada to Bell Isle in Detroit, Michigan. Jamie was the captain of the Pontiac Spinners wheelchair basketball team who toured Europe in 1984 and also played in California. Jamie had even participated in down hill skiing and scuba diving in 1990. Jamie also sailed many Regattas and won the 1994 World Trapseat Championship in Mission Bay, California. In 1997, he sailed Lake Michigan for the North American Challenge Cup in Chicago Illinois. Jamie had a builders license and constructed homes in California from 1990-1995. He was also hired by insurance companies as a consultant on home renovations and businesses becoming barrier free. He was particularly busy after the American Disabilities act was enforced. Jamie served on the Building Board for Shasta County, California from 1992-1993. Jamie also spent many of years starting a log home business, a liaison for a Swedish company, which he later named Scandia Wood Composites, up until his untimely death. Because he was a personable, loving and a compassionate person, he received many doctor requests throughout the years to visit newly injured spinal cord patients. He helped many patients through their first experiences as a parapalegic. Jamie also made significant financial contributions to his family and friends throughout the years. Jamie was well-traveled and visited England, Ireland, Sweden, and Medugorje, (the Former Yugoslavia) despite the difficulties of being confined to a wheelchair. Jamie leaves behind loving parents, and siblings. Wherever Jamie went, he had made a lasting impression on people. He had such charisma and charm, and intelligence that people were drawn to. He was a man that was fascinated with other cultures, world politics, history, and religions. He also was a remarkable role model and the kind of person that most aspire to emulate. His philosophy was, no matter what hand you are dealt in life, it is how you play that hand. Jamie had a yearning to live life to the fullest possible. He was a person who had something to contribute to society, despite his limitations. Jamie is survived by his loving parents Art and Judy Sasser, brother Steve Sasser, sisters Leanne Millitello, Carrie Caruso, and Melinda Winks, brother-in-laws Gregg Millitello, Peter Caruso, and Bob Winks, neices Cortney Millitello, Katelynn Caruso, Angelina Caruso, Kristina Sasser, Ashley McKay and Sophia Winks, nephews Michael Millitello, Thomas Caruso and Ashton Sasser. He will be greatly missed by all of the many people who knew him and the lives he touched. Jamie holding newborn baby sister Carrie Jamie, Steve, Melinda, Leanne and Carrie Top of the mountain... Jamie's hike in Medjugorje, the former Yugoslavia Jamie and his nephew Thomas... just hangin' out - Your Empty Chair - For James A. Sasser 5/16/59 to 7/26/06 - A memoir through the eyes of a young Thomas James and all the other children who loved their Uncle Jamie dearly. - Your empty chair scares me as you no longer sit there. While it diminished your height you still appeared larger than life as I looked up to you and your smile that always welcomed me to sit in your lap. Your empty chair looks so lonely now as I look behind it to see if you are there hiding to play with me one more time. I wonder who will play with me now and laugh as carefree and pure as only a child can, while not worrying about acting like an adult. Your empty chair makes my heart hurt and my eyes sting when I think of all the milestones of my young life that you have to watch from way up there. Will you really be able to see me and how will you let me know? Your empty chair makes me ask questions that I dont yet understand the answers to. Why does everyone tell me to be happy for you when all I want to do is cry like everyone else? And somehow despite all this there is something that I know because of you. Something that no one else but you would have been able to show me. Your empty chair inspires me as I continue my journey because I am able to realize the courage you have shown me. You rolled over all of lifes obstacles and never questioned why or complained. Your empty chair has taught me that strength comes not from our bodies but from the spirit that lives inside of us. You showed me that yours was mighty and never confined but always free to go any place that you could imagine. Your empty chair gives me strength because you loved me as I did you. It was with all of your heart; without condition or judgment, pure and true. Your empty chair gives me hope that I will see you again. You will be waiting for me someday and I will able to tell you once again that I love you; but youll no longer need your chair because it has already shown me everything that I needed to know when you went away. - by Peter Caruso, brother-in-law, and friend of Jamie's Jamie holding newborn nephew Thomas 4/02 Jamie with neice Cortney Jamie holding newborn nephew Michael Jamie with nephew Ashton