Last year a friend of mine, Rob Butts, passed away (May 26th). I posted a blog about it, which can be accessed below. As I mentioned in this blog, Rob and I started corresponding with each when I was a teenager, some thirty-odd years ago back in Lake Clear, New York. He was my first contact with a “Famous Person,” and he impressed me because he actually wrote back! I’ve since come to find out very few “Famous People” actually write back to you. Or maybe it’s just me? Well, in any case, that lasted a veritable lifetime, since we continued to correspond up to his death last year. I liked Rob, he was unassuming, cool, open, had great thoughts that created great “conversations” (letters), and we saw many things eye to eye. Living a philosophical belief system like this...well, that’s saying a lot. And he took the time of day to sit down and actually HANDWRITE his letters back to me, many times including artwork on them. Took the time to read some of my weird manuscripts I had sent his way, both for comment and just for fun. Took the time to allow me to come see him (twice--though neither time panned out), and talk with him on the phone.
It’s not that I worship him or Jane, or even Seth. I appreciate and admire them. Admire their courage to speak out against the tide. Forge a new path, even though, at times, they might have been afraid to. I never got to “talk” with Jane; she had either been too inundated with her work and Rob had been running interference for her, or she had begun her decline about the time I attempted contact, I no longer recall. But it’s just like any time you lose someone you really enjoyed talking to/with, whether it’s a beloved parent, grandparent, pet (I talk to my pets all the time!), or friend. I miss the letters we wrote back and forth. Sure, it might have taken him six months to wade through all his correspondence, but he ALWAYS wrote back. It was cool. And I hope his wife, Laurel, is holding up well a year later. My heart goes out to you, Laurel.
Do you know that people are STILL signing Rob’s guest book a year later? Check out the Legacy link, below.
So, I’m just taking this time to think about him, hope he’s having some wonderful adventures, and send a smile and warm energy his (and Jane’s and Seth’s) way. The three of them did a lot for me and many, in my formative years, and to which I am greatly indebted. They taught me to think outside the box and trust myself. That there’s so much more than literally meets the eye. So much more to life...and death. And that we have a hand in all of it, every single speck of it. Gave me a new, far more useful understanding of God and life.
So, yeah, I miss Rob--but I know he’s out there having further adventures with Jane and company, and growing in new and exciting ways.
