Mr Gage

This afternoon I received news that my good friend Mr Gage had passed away a few days  ago.  He was 100 years old, he still lived at home, he still had plans. He lived a long life, had many adventures, met awesome people... Still, his void on earth is felt.  Mr Gage was awesome, a dear friend who just cheered me up being in his presence. He exits leaving me wanting more because people like him are rare. I am reminded of how he felt about encores, "Rude", he said encores are rude, we must appreciate the show and be happy and satisfied with that.

I remember visiting him before I left Austin. It was a nice, long, relaxing visit and we spoke of things past and present. He made me fresh lemonade and I watched his hands at work, squeezing the lemons to make me lemonade. I wondered how I would do without seeing him every other weekend, sometimes every weekend. If he were to pass away, I thought, would I ever know or would I find his home razed when I came into town again, to make room for the community college parking. I hoped someone would contact me and that happened.  I appreciated it, greatly.

His art studio had such a youthful energy, perhaps youthful is the wrong word. It had a strong energy and I loved it when we got to hang out there. Off the studio was what he called a European style guest room. It was a small room and bath and it felt so cozy, familiar and safe.  One day I said to him that his studio was very sexy, definitely a sexy place. He laughed and said, "Well, then we better get out of here!" We both laughed so hard. So often he would say something that sent us both laughing for several minutes. Then weeks or years later we'd recall the conversation and laugh for minutes all over again.

I took many photos of his house and possessions and him. I recorded things he said too. This is a snippet from a conversation we were having about old film stars. It was one of our favorite things to talk about.  I tried not to laugh and ruin the recording but it was hard not to chuckle. Our sense of humor just clicked.

Our last conversation was over the phone a month ago. I am upset that I cannot remember it word for word. We laughed though and I remember his laugh. I remember all our other conversations, I don't know why I can't recall much from just a month ago. I did tell him I loved him and I missed him. I do remember that.