Wil's Rant

Tom's memorial service was yesterday afternoon. I enjoyed very much having the chance to meet one of his longest friends, Brian. I think Tom would have enjoyed having his family get the chance to meet him. I really can't express strongly enough how lucky I feel I am for having had the opportunity to get to know Tom over these last twelve years, which makes his loss all that more difficult. It was great listening to the stories of Tom's life told by those he was closest to. It was no surprise at all to hear the levels of respect everyone there had for him. He was the kind of man who made everyone feel welcome. You could never find a more interesting person to have a conversation with. When I described him as the man whom I most respect of any that I had ever met, there was a general nodding of heads. It seems that I am not the only one who had this opinion. I know Tom would not approve of this post, simply because he set a standard in writing for himself that very few could match. In short, I found the man to be an absolute delight to spend time with. I am going to miss those times more than I could ever say. Listening to the tales of his exploits filled us all with laughter and tears. He was a man who had touched so many. The other articles in the papers other than his wife's mainly dealt within his professional accomplishments, there were a great many. I wanted to take the time to talk about not just his accolades but more about the incredible example he set for the rest of us. He was a man who knew ethics better than anyone I've ever met. This came naturally to him. He died the way he had lived, and that is with an extraordinary amount of dignity. I will miss his wisdom, his intellect, his compassion, his counsel and his friendship. Canada has lost one of it's true greats, all the more so because of the fact that Tom is the only one who wouldn't think so. I know that I don't have the time in only one life to ever have the chance to reach the state of awareness that Tom already had. I'll keep trying though, wondering what Tom might have said about any given subject. I think those of us that are left behind will spend a lot of time thinking about what he would have counselled in the years to come. That's just the kind of man that Tom was. He was unique, there will never be another.