A Eulogy For Gianni

The unstoppable wheel we spin upon...

12 years have passed since I hired my ex-colleague and friend to join me. It had been already 10 years that I had known him.  To mark the occasion he signed the contract we celebrated with a small tumbler of whisky from this bottle of Caol Ila cask strength.  Stiff and heady, it seemed to underscore the adventure we were undertaking together.  I saved the last of it to mark the day when he would retire.  That was the bet.  Not so much as a shared public bet, but I kept the bottle with that intention.  He had just given me his retirement notice at the end of the year to finish out 2022. A retirement matured at an early age since beginning at 17 years old.  He had earned it.  Although I had tried to talk him out of it. That's how it should have been, me chiding him all through this year to stick it out a bit longer, keep me company and not waste the good years away with his lovely wife and riding on his motorcycle. The call Tuesday morning from a friend of a friend set me down hard. A heart attack supposedly.  What a shame. What a loss. What an injustice.  Yesterday was a void. Today was a bit better. I went into the office today to try and get a grip. Concentration was still difficult and so I cleaned and organized things. I saw the bottle of Caol Ila and knew the right thing to do.  I drank my half and then his. I thought about the journey we've traveled and the road still ahead.  I thought about the uncertainty of this life and the importance to stay anchored and to live a meaningful life from day to day.  The calls and messages of condolences from colleagues past and present keep coming in as the news gets out.  He was truly the best - as a person, as a collaborator, as a mechanical designer, as a steady hand on the tiller...

Still thinking of you Gianni.  God bless and God speed.