“O death, where is thy sting?” I Corinthians 15:55 (KJV)
In the spring of 2021, I visited with a neighbor to ruminate on the past year. Of course, life in the COVID era dominated our conversation. However, it was odd… neither of us knew anyone who had died as a result of the pandemic. I mentioned my great grandfather (on my dad’s side) who died during the Spanish Flu pandemic about 100 years earlier. It was also odd that neither of us had any real close acquaintances who had become ill with COVID. Shortly after I returned home, I thought about someone who had died earlier that year. He was a former student of mine and only 27 years old. Maybe that is death’s sting… such a young man dying way too early.
I coached Justin Shamlou in football and served as his US History teacher during his junior year in high school. Justin was demonstrative on the football field and animated in the classroom. As a kid, he just wanted to fit in… and he did. It was hard not to like him. Justin was on the JV football team when I first met him at the beginning of the 2008 football season. The older players on the varsity squad took him under their collective wing. He benefited from their nurturing… it gave him the confidence he needed to succeed on the football field when he was an upperclassman. The older players nicknamed him, “Shamu.” He wore that sobriquet like a badge of honor.
Justin returned the favor when he moved up to the varsity team. He actively mentored players that were following in his footsteps. As a coach, you can break down techniques and assignments but having an encouraging player like Justin willingly step up to demo what to do on a specific play was tremendously valuable. He was part of a continuum, and the players that Justin helped learn the ropes repaid the favor. They would find themselves helping younger players when it was their turn to assume a team leadership role.
Justin was a bit of an anomaly at a school known for high academic expectations especially in its math and science curricula. He was not interested in trying to grab the brass ring for admission to schools like MIT, Cal Tech or other top engineering programs. He just wanted to go to a college where he would fit in.
He did OK in my US History class. I noted that he enthusiastically participated in group discussions. Like I said… he was animated in the classroom. I also noted that he would sometimes rush his work and not fully develop his thoughts before setting pen to paper. The good news was that Justin continued to enthusiastically express himself during his short life, and he learned how to effectively communicate his thoughts in writing. Not too long before he passed, he had been hired as a senior staff writer for “Daily Grit.” It was an online news website which covered a wide array of topics. Things like entertainment, technology, current events, and social causes. Justin’s editor remarked that Justin was eager and talented. He was making his way as a writer well before the advent of AI. Justin put a lot of care into his articles to make sure they were accurate and that those articles would bring something meaningful to a reader.
As I look back on Justin’s short walk on Earth (4/21/93 – 2/15/21), I see the kind of person we need in our lives. Yes, the verse from I Corinthians tells us we will triumph over death, and in the end, death really has no sting. Yet, when someone like Justin suffers a seizure and is wrested from our world… it does sting. Maybe Justin’s legacy is not one that says we should be enthusiastic and caring in life. Maybe his legacy is a reminder that we should not just embrace life with enthusiasm and caring but rather selflessly make it our life’s purpose to invest enthusiasm and caring into the lives of others.
To say I was shocked to hear the news about Justin’s passing is an understatement. I wrote on his tribute wall after he died:
Justin… His passing is beyond sad. I was Justin’s US History teacher and one of his football coaches from JV and on to varsity. When you spend time with a young athlete over their sports career, you get a chance to see a kid on his way to becoming a man… but even as he grew… sometimes succeeding and other times falling short… there was always a great kid inside Justin. He was energetic, emotional and he possessed a good heart.
Many times during practice… Justin would ask me a question or ask my opinion about something unrelated to football. I’d try to look stern and tell him to stay focused. Then, I’d circle back in a few minutes and give him my answer. That smile we all know would break out with a “Thanks, coach.” He just had the capacity to be more than the task in front of him, but make no mistake… when the game was on… Justin was on. He was all business until the final whistle… then he was a kid, again.
Copyright © 2025 by Ray Fowler
