It’s been almost a year this month since he passed. I can already tell that October is when I’ll miss him most. Not because this happens to be the month he departed to reunite with his wife Editha, but because October is when he would usually come to visit us in SF.
I looked forward to his visits.
I looked forward to spending time hanging out with him, listening to his stories and his occasional pontification on the state of all things. I remember once we went up two blocks to the local pub to nurse a pint. I happen to have taken a picture of him that day and I treasure it. That took place on one October past,
I can’t remember which one and it doesn’t matter because they all blend into one wonderful memory for me.
It seems the most common refrain you’ll hear about a person when
they are gone is that he/she was “a good person” and that’s certainly the case
with vrriii. He was undoubtedly a good guy, a good father, a good husband, a
good member of his extended community.
But for me, and an admittedly small and not very representative portion of the population, what’s just as if not more important, more memorable, is that he also had “good politics.”
Most of us are familiar with “a good guy” or “a good person,” – you often hear the phrase “good people” or “buenagente.” You hear “you’ll like this person he/she is ‘good people.’”
Well, Vrriii was “good people” and he had “good politics.”
He believed in good things, great ideas, he had good values.
He was interested in leaving the world a bit of a better place than when he arrived. He was a voracious reader, was hyperinformed, and valued the idea of knowledge itself. He believed that on the whole we should help people if we have an opportunity to do so – he rejected the notion that this should be an “everyone for themselves” kind of world.
Selflessness, sacrifice, kindness, these are some the traits that he valued and inspired in others.
He did in fact, leave the world a better place than when he got here: his legacy, and his values live on in the lives and actions of his two daughters who carry their father’s spirit every day.
Written By: TF
I looked forward to his visits.
I looked forward to spending time hanging out with him, listening to his stories and his occasional pontification on the state of all things. I remember once we went up two blocks to the local pub to nurse a pint. I happen to have taken a picture of him that day and I treasure it. That took place on one October past,
I can’t remember which one and it doesn’t matter because they all blend into one wonderful memory for me.
It seems the most common refrain you’ll hear about a person when
they are gone is that he/she was “a good person” and that’s certainly the case
with vrriii. He was undoubtedly a good guy, a good father, a good husband, a
good member of his extended community.
But for me, and an admittedly small and not very representative portion of the population, what’s just as if not more important, more memorable, is that he also had “good politics.”
Most of us are familiar with “a good guy” or “a good person,” – you often hear the phrase “good people” or “buenagente.” You hear “you’ll like this person he/she is ‘good people.’”
Well, Vrriii was “good people” and he had “good politics.”
He believed in good things, great ideas, he had good values.
He was interested in leaving the world a bit of a better place than when he arrived. He was a voracious reader, was hyperinformed, and valued the idea of knowledge itself. He believed that on the whole we should help people if we have an opportunity to do so – he rejected the notion that this should be an “everyone for themselves” kind of world.
Selflessness, sacrifice, kindness, these are some the traits that he valued and inspired in others.
He did in fact, leave the world a better place than when he got here: his legacy, and his values live on in the lives and actions of his two daughters who carry their father’s spirit every day.
Written By: TF
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