Thursday, November 30, 0002
My deepest sympathies and condolences are with all of you. I just wanted to share with you a memory that I have of Archie. I lived next door with my parents at the time, and Archie had planted a rare flower in his backyard that only bloomed once a year and only at sunset. He was very excited about the bloom of this flower, and invited our family over to watch with him. As we settled in before the flower waiting for the sun to drop over the horizon, Archie chatted away about his perennials and annuals, and about the miracle of this one flower, and then he stopped. The flower had begun to open, slowly at first and then bursting to it's full glory. It was breathtaking. It seemed unfair that something so beautiful couldn't stay longer, but I will never forget the beauty that I experienced that evening, or the awe that it inspired. Archie showed me something that I never would have seen without him, and he shared a beautiful secret that night...not just the flower, but the fact that even when the bloom is gone, the memory stays forever.
