We are often told throughout our lives that life itself, through its many twists and turns, can be cruel, unforgiving, and simply unfair. In the early morning hours of February 25, life proved itself to be cruel, unforgiving, and deeply unfair to the local community.

Goose River member and beloved junior golfer, Theo Hedstrom, passed away at the young age of fourteen. He was the victim of a horrific and fast-moving fire that engulfed the home he was living in.

The news hit me like a punch to the gut. I worked with Theo on his golf game, as he was a player on both the Camden-Rockport Middle School, and at Camden Hills High School. I was his coach for three years, and I want everyone to know that he was an amazing human being.

Sometimes, we just talked about life, on bus rides and cold September afternoons. It was in those mundane and often laughter-filled encounters, that I began to realize how special this boy really was. Always smiling, Theo never had a bad word for anybody, and always sought to include fellow members of the team in whatever he was doing at the golf course.

He was unfailingly polite, and had a maturity about him that is not found often in teenagers. He wanted to become a better player, and he worked hard at it. His father helped get him a brand new set of Callaway clubs, and he cherished them, as evidenced by the huge smile on his face that appeared as those shiny irons arrived in his hands for the first time.

He played most days in the summer, with his friends, his family, and fellow Goose River members. What is better than watching a group of family members descend down the first fairway? It's not about golf, it’s about the time spent together. In life, family is all we have in many instances, and now the Hedstrom family has lost one of their own. Theo's father, Tom, is a member, as is his uncle Mike. I know how much they enjoyed watching Theo play the game that he loved.

A short while ago, Tom asked me to write a personal recommendation for Theo, as he was applying to the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy in Massachusetts. It was the easiest piece of writing I have ever completed. As I wrote that recommendation, I laughed and thought to myself, “I wonder if anyone wrote anything this complimentary about me when I was 14.” The answer to this question, of course, was most certainly no. I doubt there are many teenagers who would have received such a glowing review.

Theo stayed in Camden for his brief high school career and I was delighted to see him join the Camden Hills Golf Team. He loved to be with his best friends on the team, and he dearly loved being at Goose River. Sadly, we will never see what his journey through golf and life could have been. We will never see the success and wonderful contributions to the world that a boy of Theo's character would have surely offered. He was quite simply, a wonderful young man, and he will be missed with profound sadness by the Goose River community and the town that he called home.

The writer Joan Didion, no stranger to personal tragedy herself, famously wrote that, "we tell ourselves stories in order to live." Didion struck at the heart of all of us when she wrote those words. We seldom want to face the harsh realities of life, the ever-present fragility of our everyday existence, and the cruel, unforgiving, and unfair events that surround us on a daily basis.

Theo's passing is a reminder to all of us that every day is a blessing and thankful is a word that aptly describes the good and bad days that await us in life. I will remember Theo as he walked down the first fairway of our beloved golf course on a late afternoon, a smile on his face, and friends by his side, embarking on another round of golf. Theo, you will be dearly missed.

Alex Plummer, PGA, Goose River Golf Course, Rockport