When I was on my first NOLS course in 1997, Mike Tyson bit off a piece of Evander Holyfield's ear while I was in the field. We didn't believe the re-rationers. Apparently we were pretty convincing 14-year-olds because a week later they came in with a newspaper to prove to us that they weren't lying.
At the end of an Absaroka hiking course in July of 2009, my mother met me at the NOLS Rocky Mountain branch to inform me that her father, my grandfather, had passed away while I was away. It wasn't completely unexpected but words carry much more weight than the mere thought of it.
It's challenging being away, especially when you return and everyone has had time to grieve and begun to find closure and you're just starting that process.
While we were at Cerro Castillo, my parent's neighbor, Ray, passed away. He was a wonderful, kind, quick witted man who I've known as long as I can recall. He was the epitome of driven and taught me from an early age how to work hard to get the things I wanted.
I met him when I was two and fortunately had a few great interactions with him just before coming down to Patagonia. He was that quintessential neighbor you spoke with across the fence about anything and everything and I always left feeling as though I'd learned something. Often times that learning was accompanied with a smile and some laughter.
Ray Virden at his finest.
I'm sure going to miss you Ray. Thank you for teaching me the definition of hard work. You were the best of the best.
Riley says: "Sometimes you don't realize how much a person means to you until they are gone."
