We said goodbye, almost a month to the day since you said goodbye.
The weather was wild for the entirety of the day; you found a way to be loquacious as ever. I drove up in the pouring rain, but it suspended itself just as we gathered, allowing for a collective deep breath while the wind whipped around us, steeling ourselves to see you again. It was so beautiful, so poignant, so funny, so heartbreaking – it was so perfectly you, just as you’d planned. Worlds linked by the force of you drew together in that room and time was suspended while you reminded us just how incredibly precious it is. How incredibly beautiful this life is.
Pip and I squeezed our hands tight while your family did such a brave, powerful, moving thing. The room came undone and the tears spilled over, falling as you made us laugh through them until they were caught, softly and gently, by our masks – an obscure addition to a day that was so cruel by its very being, decades too soon. But you were all around us, and the sun all but burst through those tall, imposing windows in a way that we were never promised. We clapped so hard – for your spirit, for the essence of who you were, and who you continue to be through the people that know and love you. You bounced among us, ever the light, as our hearts swelled and shattered all at once.
The sky cast such a formidable spell as we travelled home. The sinking sun set it completely on fire – vivid as it torched the horizon, seemingly intent on squaring up to dark, rumbling, wicked clouds which eventually gave in, forced to make way for the brightest, deepest rainbow and it made us so sure it was all you. We fell silent as we charged south, surrendering to the swirling, billowing scene in awe as you orchestrated for yourself the brilliant party we were denied. The train sped on and we moved through you – uncontainable, effervescent you – setting the world alight while you danced.
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