"Good night, sweet prince. May flights of angels sing you to your rest."
~William Shakespeare ~
My friend, Stuart, died this morning. He left us all with a final message that love and honesty are what matter the most, and it was a powerful message. I am quite sure that Stuart died peacefully, and I am quite sure that he was surrounded and enveloped by love on all sides.
And while I am grateful that his suffering has ended after months of piecemeal deterioration from ALS, I am sad to lose contact with his particularly Stuart kind of spirit. He had a twinkle about him right to the end, and a lively sense of humor. Highly intelligent, protector of those less fortunate, lover of good food and art and music and culture, Stuart was clever and compassionate, bright-eyed, and always up for an adventure.I watched him travel his own kind of journey from sarcasm to anger to pure raw love, and that's where his tale ends: beautiful, tragic, inspiring, and absolutely real. I will miss him deeply.
RIP Stuart Rakoff
In honor of Stuart, let's courageously and resolutely express our love.
