I met him when visiting Darwin.

He was short and thin. He had curly hair and tanned skin.

He had beautiful eyes and spoke in a tender voice.

We both loved theatre. So we hit it off pretty quickly.

I was invited to dinner at his place. He was an amazing chef.

He loved gardening and showed me the beautiful backyard in his house.

He adored his dog.

He adored his partner even more.

And he knew he wouldn’t be around for too long.

But he was strong and resilient.

 

I’ve only met him twice. We spent a very short time together — Possibly 5 hours or so.

But I learned a lot about him in those few hours.

He told me how he was feeling about his illness, incurable at that stage.

I held his hand tightly and promised to visit him again. I was sure to see him the following year.

But he was not too sure if it would happen.

 

He passed away on the last day of 2018.

I am praying for his soul. His beautiful, playful, and loving soul.