Farewell my friend

I haven't written in ages. Most recently, the reason has been that my dear friend Pete died on January 12. I have a link to Pete's blog on the right side of my blog entries; it's MorseKode. Pete's uncle gave the most moving speech at the memorial service in San Francisco last week, and I wish I had it word-for-word, but here's my recollection. He said that he's in aviation, and he knows a lot of pilots, a lot of experienced pilots, who know all there is to know about safety and flying. And every once in a while, the universe twists, and it takes one of them in a random accident. They know that flying is a risk, but they take it anyway, they do their best to be safe, and sometimes fate takes them. He encapsulated more about the losses we suffer in harm reduction in that one statement than I've heard in a long time.

This is what I said at the closing:

We can’t have Pete back, but his death is another reminder, another call to action.

To hold each other more dearly…
To not turn away from the camera when people want to take your picture…
To return the phone call even if you think you don’t have time…
To hug a little longer…
To kiss more slowly…
To speak up a little more…
And to ask the questions that we may be too afraid to ask.

Because this is the work that Pete was engaged in; this is harm reduction. We need each other to stick around for the party when we’re through this mess. When we can dance without a background of sadness and loss.