James Van Der Beek passed away today. I’m a healthcare guy and I post about healthcare. Now I want to talk about James. He was special, he was 48 years old, a Father of six, a Husband. He was man who spent his final chapter teaching the ultimate guide to real life. James was part of my growing up. Dawson’s Creek. Varsity Blues. The 90s. He was just there, woven into the background. What he did over the last few years was bigger than any of that. He recorded a video on his last birthday. Cancer had taken everything he used to define himself. He couldn’t be the husband who helped around the house. He couldn’t pick up his kids and carry them to bed. He couldn’t work. He was too weak to prune the trees on his own property. And he sat with that. He asked himself the question most of us spend a lifetime avoiding: If I am none of the things I do, who am I? His answer was simple. Devastating. Beautiful. “I am worthy of God’s love simply because I exist. And if I’m worthy of God’s love, shouldn’t I also be worthy of my own?” That’s it. That’s the whole thing. We spend our careers building identities around what we produce, what we control, and what we can point to. And then life has a way of stripping it all down to the studs. James Van Der Beek faced that moment with the courage. He said cancer was the best thing that ever happened to him because it taught him how to live. He left behind his wife, Kimberly, six children, and a message that every father, husband, and man chasing the next thing needs to sit with. Watch this video. Then call someone you love. Thank you for your contribution. Rest easy…