The story of James Matthew Weatherby
I looked down at the paper before me, it listed his family connections/history:
James Matthew Weatherby passed away on June 22 of, 2021 at the age of 47, in Shenandoah, TX. James was born on the 21st day of February 1974 to James Richard Weatherby & Karen Rose Piscitelli Weatherby in Duarte, CA. He was a graduate of Arcadia High School class of 1992. On October 9th of, 2004, James married Melody L Corser on the bridge of the Enterprise D (Star Trek) in Las Vegas, NV.
He is survived by his parents, Jim & Karen Weatherby, & wife of 16 years, Melody Weatherby. James is survived by several Aunts and Uncles: Marie Piscitelli Lowman, Charles "Chuck" (Kathleen) Piscitelli, Joe (Charlene)Weatherby, Randy (Pam) Weatherby, Cindy (Steve)Weatherby Marr, Mark (Joe) Weatherby, Cousins: Mark (Becky) Lowman, Joshua (Marlene) Piscitelli, Courtney (Jason) Piscitelli Bowen, Joseph Piscitelli and several 2nd Cousins.
James is preceded in death by all four Grandparents John & Rose (Intrieri) Piscitelli, and Charles Ed & Murdene (Shay) Weatherby and several Aunts and Uncles John (Karen) Piscitelli, John (Joan) Weatherby, and Fred Weatherby.
My vision blurred, and I glanced away taking a sip of the amber liquid covering the bottom of my glass. This was just the skeleton of who he was. People have been coming in, sitting next to me and sharing the pieces of him they knew.
His Aunt told me he was a smart and independent child. His Uncle said he was normally very quiet but loved seeing him get loud and celebrate at a Kansas City Chiefs football game... the only professional game he ever attended as far as I know. A cousin told of him making them laugh during a difficult time and giving comfort by just sitting quietly with them at another time. He was caring and could make an adventure out of anything, even a walk to the mailbox which he would do in the middle of the night with one of our cats, Momo.
According to his Mother, he was always a shy person but he made several great lifelong friends. I looked down at the school assignments and photo album that his mother had given us some time ago. I'm not sure when he went to space camp but It was obvious that he loved adventure and space from those writings.
He often spoke of the friends he made adventuring in different story games and D&D gaming situations as his people. He did not make many friends but those he made he considered friends for life. He loved participating in any way he could with the various weddings of those friends. I've been lucky to meet those friends and attend the weddings and watch as those families have grown over the years as well. He was proud to stand up or just be with the friends as they tied the knot in their unique ways.
I remember his grandfather, John Piscitelli introducing us when James came to watch our bowling team. After a while, he got up the courage to ask me if he could ask for my phone number. I laughed just a bit because I said yes then waited until he actually asked for my number. He did and during our first phone conversation he asked me out on our first date. It was to a movie (Austin Powers 2) and dinner. We both would have walked out of the movie if it had not been our first date and we laughed about it later during dinner. However, It started a seven year time of dating and being friends. I moved around several times and, for work, quite a distance away but we talked on the phone a lot and he would drive to see me no matter the time it took. He was patient with me as I was a bit slow to say yes to him.
His Mother was the one who suggested we check out the Star Trek Enterprise ride in Las Vegas Nevada for our wedding. We ended up getting married on the bridge of the enterprise with friends and family, who still talk about the fun they had on that trip. We did have two celebrity sightings that weekend. A Nascar driver was next to us in line when we went to the courthouse to get the marriage license and Garrett Wang, Ensign Kim from Voyager stopped me and my Lady Officers in waiting and complimented us on our outfits. Unfortunately he was on vacation and had to go before James got back from taking some items up to the room. Also, we had an adventure with an extra day in the city due to my vehicle keys being mistakenly taken by my Office of Honor. That adventure included two taxi rides with marriage advice and a sunset trip to the Bus Station!
James spent his life helping his friends, and making stories out of the adventures of life. He loved creating or playing in new and interesting worlds whether that was a new role-playing character or traveling to new places with me (though maybe not moving our stuff across the country). James has been a DM/GM, a DJ, a Bartender, a Mover, a Computer Expert. a Writer, a Storyteller, a Clerk, a Wonderful Husband, a True Friend, and a Great Man among other things.
As I travel to his friends and family to say cheers to him with each of them, I know that I'll get to know more of his story. So I lift my drink for one more salute to James Matthew Weatherby, I know his story is not complete so long as his friends, family and I keep sharing the memories. Cheers, My Man! Mwah!
