February 6th, 2025. 10 years ago from today we celebrated your last birthday here on Earth. You would be 59 today. You lived on this Earth for just under half a century but you left an imprint that will last for millennia. In your living and your dying, you touched us here who knew you, and inspired us to live well while we can and to die well when it is our time, and to recognize the inseparability of these movements of living and dying.
It feels like a lifetime since you’ve been gone, and at the same time, it feels like you’re only a heartbeat away. You were a builder of homes, building not only houses but also the families and communities who gathered there. You were a dancer and a teacher, with tai chi as your practice. You were a lover, a father, a brother, and a friend, and your generous heart was a gift to us all. Through all of your life and all of your creations was woven your unique artistry, and this art continues to dance and move, through the homes you built and through the relationships you tended to.
I feel myself to be an example of that. As I find my own unique artistry weaving through my life and my creations, I find it to be intimately interwoven with you, Joe. As I build, and dance, and share, and love, I find it near impossible to separate what is uniquely me from what is you, and I don’t know that I would want to. My life is not my life alone. My life is an extension of yours, and mom’s as well, two lives which by most reasonable assessments, ended far too short, but which nonetheless demonstrated a remarkable fullness in their brevity. Life is what happens, as you liked to say.
Unforced was your word and unforced was your way. As a student of tai chi and a student of nature, you discovered the effortless spontaneity of the natural world and of your own nature, and you continually lived into this, inspiring all of us to slow down and enjoy this life that we share. You loved learning and you deepened your understanding not only through your practice and your listening, but also through your study, and you found lessons in ancient religions, modern science, and even through fictional stories such as The Celestine Prophecy and Star Trek.
Live to Grow, Grow to Love. What a sweet reminder you have given us here. Life is to be lived, and we are always given opportunities to learn and grow. And what is the purpose of learning and growing, if not to deepen in our love of our fellow beings here, from the humans we share and communicate with every day, to the tender water lily that blooms in the pond, reminding us of the preciousness and impermanence of this moment and this life.
Thanks for gifting us all with your presence here for half a century Joe. And thanks for gifting me with your physical presence for the first 22 years of my life, and your lasting loving presence for all of the moments that I live.
Your son in blood and in love,
Aaron Gabriel
Beautiful Aaron. Thank you for sharing this letter with us -- I can feel your love through your words.