Bon Voyage

By Leslie Stankiewicz

Well attended, was a mild statement, the room was packed with people Saturday, December 7 to see off Robert Brune, who is spending the winter in Florida. The space between them so tight navigation even to one side or another became almost impossible. There was laughter just over the hum of humans all talking to each other, all the conversations happening at the same time. Food and drinks on one side, new paintings from the previous night on the wall, so fresh

were they, that there had to be an announcement about the crowd not brushing up against them.

This was the bon voyage of a man who helped to make us all acquaintances and his artist

gatherings furthered the process of making us all friends. As I looked around, I was shocked at how I knew almost all of them. It was not a goodbye forever party, just a "so long for now," and when he asked for quiet and shared some thoughts, he made a promise to return by May. He thanked us all for coming together and told us just how much we meant to him. There was a wetness in his eyes that showed warmth from his equally kind face as I felt the love he had for each of us, and I was suddenly humbled.

As a newspaperman who had written at one time or another about each of us, he had gotten to know us one at a time. By his own admission, coming up here to the mountains was a culture shock, and though well-wishers from warmer places warned against mountain people and bears, five years ago he had made the journey anyway. Not knowing a soul, it was starting over, and it was a gamble.

As one who has been marginalized herself, I know what it's like to be in a new place with a room

full of strangers and feel alone. Our friend never made me feel anything but loved, and special in my own way, and he had a gift as he wrote about our talents to make each one of us shine. The room was not full of scary strangers, it was full of warm loving friends, and as I brushed back a tear of my own, I thought, here was a special human that we all came to honor for good reason and he would be missed.

I love you, my friend, good luck on this part of your journey