Gratuity

I am grateful for my parents, who brought me into this world, and can take me out of it. I’m grateful to Bill Cosby, who planted the idea in my head at a young age that chocolate cake for breakfast is a wonderful way to start the day. I am grateful to Peter, for being the man I never thought I’d meet (but secretly always knew I would meet one day). I am grateful for Patricia, for guiding me through the great, green, greasy Limpopo, all set about with fever trees. I am grateful to Jana, for sticking by my side through thick and thin. You are a true friend. I am grateful to Linda, who taught me about gratuity lists and on being a warrior. I am grateful to Rebecca, who can take an idea and spin it, add a hundred layers to it, and make it all happen. I am grateful to Anne for her undying compassion for animals. I am grateful to Estela and Clem, for reminding me about the importance of family. Thank you Pepi, for seven of the most wonderful years of my life, and may your adventures continue. I will never forget what we learned together and the fun we had. Thank you to Chris for setting my standards for boatbuilding to unattainable heights. I will be there to smash the champagne over the hull when your vessel goes in the water. Thank you to my brother, Kissyfur, for teaching me about riding three wheelers, and that I must negotiate for your months-old Easter chocolate, because if I just take it from your supply when you’re not looking, you’ll notice later and I’ll have to pay you a quarter. Thanks to Reggie, for reminding me not to settle when there’s a world of opportunity out there, and for summoning up the courage to take the leap. Greta for always making me laugh. Thanks to Gina for your wisdom and sensibility. Malaika for Rambette, which is the true essence of Malaika summed up on one skin-tight camouflage minidress. Thanks to Sarah and Zach, for taking the traditional path, and showing that it can be fun. Thanks to Nini, for mentoring me and being a person I want to emulate in my life. Thanks to Kurt for telling me to go study in Poland, and showing me that you never really have to grow up, even if you’re a Hoover Institution economist. Thank you to Dominique for the way you see the good side of things, even when we forgot to turn off the water and it’s been on for hours. Thank you to Sue, who planted the idea in my head to ride dressage in the Olympics. Thank you to Jay, for being my first true partner in life. I am grateful for Sean, for showing me about productivity in the wee hours of the night, and for your indelible desire to help people. Thanks to Steve for your wit. I am grateful to Karin, who has got to be the most realistically positive person the world around. Thanks to Kailen the Gaucho, who’s reminded me that work is not just a place to work, but also to show off each other’s trucks in the garage. I am grateful to Will who unknowingly taught me a lot about myself. Thank you to Frances…one day, I’m going to be voting for you, I’m sure. Danke Grossmutti, fuer deine wunderbare Ausdruecken und dass du mir gezeigt hast, wie teuer alles ist! Und dass man Liebe in jeden Alter finden kann. Thank you to Bobuko, Ham and Fritz, for showing me your creature-wisdom and putting up with my experiments to test your intelligence. Thank you to Luna for romping around the cross country course with me. Thank you to Mark Capelli, for opening my eyes to the diversity of life and the adaptability of creatures, including man. I hope for your career that the state of our world for the past 8 years will finally begin a new chapter. I am grateful for art that invokes passion, bright color, texture and touch, the sensation of biting into a fresh passion fruit, the red sand dunes of Namibia, smelling Carmex and being mentally transported to Mattsee, feeling the wind whip my face as I gallop on horseback along Goleta beach, watching the dolphins surf the waves. I am grateful for having seen and felt poverty, deep lows in life, and not taking the sustained high I’ve been in for the past year for granted. I am grateful for my health, for without that, not all my adventures would’ve been possible. I’m grateful for those who I’ve known who have died, for in their passing they have reminded me to live every day to its fullest.