Bill Owen, one of my best friends, would’ve been 39 years old today had he not been killed three years ago. Time is slowly healing this wound as is evidenced by the fact that I almost forgot to write this entry at all.

I’m taking the rest of the day off from blogging.

Update: In a small bit of irony today is also the day the settlement of the lawsuit Bill’s family filed against the city of Dearbon Michigan was made public:

A Wayne County Circuit jury last year ordered that Owen’s family be paid more than $20 million.

Dearborn and its insurer, AIG Insurance Co., appealed the damage order, saying there had been improper conduct in the trial.

“The family wanted desperately to put this matter behind them and get closure,” family lawyer Paul W. Broschay told The Associated Press on Thursday. “It was a horrible, senseless tragedy, and the family felt ... it was best to move on and settle the case.”

“It’s more than the city wanted to pay, but it’s significantly less than the judgment,” said city lawyer Chip Boyle. “It was an unfortunate tragedy that happened, and the city was responsible for that because of their employee. The city is pleased with the result.”

Awarded $20 million and in the end they settled for $6 million of which the lawyers will eat around $2 million and the rest will be divided up among Bill’s family. It sounds like a lot, but I still worry about them. It’s not going to fill the hole, but does enable you to try with all manner of bad ideas. Here’s hoping they don’t succumb to that temptation.