For Jeff

Another brother hits the trail...

The phone rings early. Never a good sign. And then the news, delicately, kindly delivered by another neighbor. “Jeff is no longer with us.”

My friend, my neighbor, my brother from another mother, Jeff in Ashland, died of a heart attack last night. You hear the words, you try to take it in, you go numb, then you start to thaw and feel and remember…

Death comes when it comes. Who can say how many days I have, you have, any of us have? How many are we supposed to have? Are there accidents? Are there unexpected tragedies? Or do we have x number of hearts beats and that’s that? Who knows?

What I do know now, as I share my love for this amazing man - a true original who will never be replicated in any of the million multiverses - and pour my grief into these words so they can become a touchstone for the ongoing liberation of your hearts too, is this:

Love is what matters.

Let us love each other, love what we are doing and what we hope to do, let us love this world and every moment we have in it, and - most of all - may we love ourselves fiercely and blaze our days all the way to the end of this trail.

So, I carried on with the podcast interview I’d arranged and ended up processing my grief with my guest, who turns out to be highly skilled in such matters. (And is my new brother!) Because of our five minute process, Jeff now feels closer than when he was alive. And he’s bringing me gifts of courage and confidence, like a transfusion into my body of some of his New Jersey genes!

I’ll post the interview on Sunday along with a shorter blog and I encourage you to listen in. It’s a great conversation with practical tips on how to handle our stuff.

Some of you on this list are strangers I’ve never met. Some are close friends. In this moment, I’m asking you all to join me for a split second moment of quantum blessing for my deep friend Jeff as he finds his way to a new trail. Close your eyes, take a breath, smile, exhale, glance at his picture, and …. release.

Thank you.

Adios, my brother. Travel well and enjoy your next ride!