When we heard that Claude had been admitted to hospital, my husband and I woke at first light and lay in bed talking about Claude. We were remembering how he organized us into leaving for Boulder, acting like our sergeant major on that last afternoon when we were unsuccessfully packing up the condo and storage unit; how he took charge and got us out of there in time (just); how grateful we were to him for stepping up and ordering us to do what needed to be done, and helping us do it; how his natural leadership skills were such a blessing to us, disorganized mortals still muddling about without a plan. And we were remembering his great strides on beach walks, how I would have to jog to keep pace with him, how energetic and enthusiastic he was, and his amusement at my weak efforts. His laughter and his example were such an inspiration! 'Walk like Claude', we urged each other, thereafter, because we knew it was the only true way to walk, and if we sauntered we would glance guiltily up to your condo window. "Don't let Claude see us dawdling." If I walk faster now, it is because of him. And we were remembering how he could repair anything - how he fixed the leaky roof of the honda van with the insertion of a license plate (so inventive, and resourceful, and utterly crazy, but it worked); and later used chewing gum and a spare penny to adjust the brake. We relied on Claude to make things happen, to get things back on track, to ensure that everything worked right; we relied on him to laugh at our stories, and how we laughed at his. We don't even know yet how very much we will miss him. We still have to become used to his being gone. In the meantime, we are thinking of his vitality and joy, his humour and his hard working ethics. We are thinking of how his vibrancy infused every experience, and how contagious all those qualities were. We thank him for sharing them with us.