Saturday, December 8, 2018
I met Brian at rugby practice in September 1976 – over 42 years ago. My First impression was that he was a big, strong, crazy maniac who could push the pack around on the pitch at will. Brian appeared to love to party and have a good time without a care in the world. As I got to know and appreciate Brian I discovered this was all a front and he had a deeply ingrained, kind and gentle nature hidden behind a manly front and he was always thinking of and trying to help others.
Brian loved laughing, raising eyebrows, and a good pun or double entendre. We would always hug and wink the first time we saw each other, whenever we met. Many of you saw this, one time or another over the years, and know how deep, personal and full of feeling these hugs could be.
Brian’s brain worked way too fast for his mouth to keep up, yet he was patient with himself and always made sure we understood.
Brian loved music and was a real, deep, repository of arcane musical knowledge. I would have loved to have been on a music trivia team with him. As an example, last year I went to see Eddie Jobson at Jamin’ Java and called Brian to see if he wanted to go. Before I could finish the question Brian started listing all the bands that Eddie had been in – replaced Eno in Roxy Music, Frank Zappa’s Band, helped form UK, Was in Jethro Tull, Curved Air, Yes …Brian could pull this type of info out of the air without even pausing. We called it PIDOMA. I will explain PIDOMA later if you ask.
Brian was always upbeat and refused to let his illness bring others down. I remember when he first told me about the prostate cancer and that he would have his prostate removed. He joked that this was a good thing because now he wouldn’t be getting up frequently at night and would stop disturbing Ruthie’s sleep. As his illness moved about his body and he had multiple treatments and surgeries, Brian would always make light of it and say that they think they got it all this time… and ….the reports are coming back clean.
This year, it looked like Brian was recovering nicely, getting stronger, and would be hanging around for a long time. He spent a wonderful week with Lynne, Theresa, Shawn and me at the beach this past August. He had the strength to climb the stairs all the way up to his room many times, and we do have a lot of stairs. We enjoyed sitting on the beach and snidely, sometimes rudely, commenting on the people walking by. We had a blast, and even crowded into a photobooth on the Rehoboth boardwalk, and yes, I have the photostrip to prove that you CAN cram 5 adults into a tiny photobooth,
Yes, we all thought Brian would be sticking around and we would be getting together, to create new memories, reminisce about old times, and amaze us with his musical lore, for a long time, But God had other plans, so Brian will be with us in our hearts and minds, forever. I thank the lord for blessing us with you Brian, you made our lives so much better and fuller and you are a person I can never forget.
