April 9, 2007

I could sense there was something amiss the moment I walked into the room.

On one side of the Colby College triple was Andy Colligan, a high school friend of mine, with a magazine obscuring his face as he lounged lazily on a bottom bunk. On the other side were his two roommates, sitting side-by-side, ramrod straight and staring angrily at the floor.

They were seething, which was odd since both were low-key guys who rarely showed any sort of emotion, never mind anger. I asked what was wrong, but the huffy duo stormed past me with nary a word. I watched them walk out, expecting them to at least acknowledge me, but they kept on going.

My eyes returned to Andy, who had dropped the magazine to his chest and was convulsing in a soundless laughter with a massive grin on his face. Colligan, one of the captains of the White Mule lacrosse team, had struck again.

He had unleashed a modified version of a prank I had sprung on my roommate a couple of weeks prior. He reset all of the clocks in the room -- even the computer -- ahead an hour just prior to going to bed the evening before. When the three roommates, who all had 8 a.m. classes, awoke that morning, Andy feigned an illness and begged off, letting his chums wander to class an hour early.

They each sat in empty classrooms for 30 minutes before the ugly realization finally dawned on them.

And when it did, they weren't pleased.

Andy and I must have spent a good hour in the dorm room laughing about the stunt, envisioning our poor friends (both of them would be groomsmen in my wedding) shifting uncomfortably in the barren classroom, wondering what could possibly explain the situation. During the last 10 years of Andy's life we would constantly reference the incident and it never failed to bring tears of laughter.

These are the types of stories that will be floating around the Southers Marsh Golf Club in Plymouth, Mass., on Saturday, April 28, when friends and family gather to raise money for the Andrew T. Colligan Memorial Scholarship, given to a fortunate student at the Noble & Greenough School.

I had to tell this story because I will be unable to attend this year, the date falling too close to the expected birthday of my first child. I still wanted to tell the story again, if only for the humor it still brings me.

It's been over five years since Andy collapsed on the bench of a youth hockey game in Charlestown, Mass., on New Year's Day of 2002. For a long time I could do nothing but focus on his death and its cause -- a genetic anomaly created an aneurysm in his brain -- but now I concentrate on his life, and everyone who was a part of it. That's what makes these gatherings so enjoyable. For the same reasons, it will be painful for me to miss.

This year, those who gather for the golf tournament will be able to share something more tangible than just humorous anecdotes about Andy. The golf tournament invitation was accompanied by a letter from a graduating senior at Nobles, Chris Huxley, who addressed it to Andy's parents.

Huxley finished his letter with the following: "Thank you for your generosity, which has allowed me to attend Nobles. I have an unbelievable future ahead of me and I will never forget that the Andrew T. Colligan Scholarship made this possible."

Huxley has been able to play lacrosse and hockey at Nobles for the past two years aided by the scholarship. Next year, he will attend Harvard.

The ability to help this cause holds special meaning to me. But it is dwarfed compared to the sense of satisfaction it must bring the Colligan family and Andy's friends - especially those who have actually put in the work to make this scholarship a reality.

They are old friends from Nobles like Brooke Asnis, Tim Partridge, Christy Bergstrom, Kelly Laferriere, Lisa Rose, Maggie Birmingham, Martha Schneider and Greg Lewis, among others, as well as Colby alums Matt Trudeau and Chuck Thompson. Andy's sister, Julie, has also been instrumental. They are the ones who have made this possible with their tireless dedication and often unheralded sacrifice. I, for one, am sincerely grateful.

The golf tournament on April 28 is by no means a private party. If you are near the South Shore of Mass., that weekend and you are fans of lacrosse, golf, hockey, bad jokes or good people, you would have been Andy's friend. And that makes you more than welcome. Drop an email to Tim Partridge in the next week or so and he'll help you sign up.

Whether you make it or not, maybe there is someone you can assist in your community through the memory of a person you truly miss.

Contact Jac Coyne at jcoyne@uslacrosse.org.