Tom was a fine friend over the past several years. I've just read here of his sudden death and am too stricken to recall how far back our long correspondence reaches, and it's too painful to remember all the many difficulties Tom passed through in his sometimes troubled life. To soothe the hurt, it helps to know he was happy and with loved ones when Fate overtook him.
It helps too to have here next to me an extraordinarily lovely small covered dish Tom sent me a couple weeks ago. He loved making pots, and the two pieces of his I have have more meaning to me now than ever. This latter one has a wonderful glaze, really the color of the lucid water of the Caribbean. In fact, I'd just written him, about a week ago, that it reminded of the piece of the sea that would contain an elegant jellyfish. By looking at his work, I'll cherish the memory of him, marvel at the irony of his untimely loss upon coming out of the ocean, and hold him dear in my heart.
Lux perpetua, my dear friend, fare well and farewell.
