The Most Unforgettable Character I've Met.

RAW

The single word that springs to mind as I think of him.

Everything was a measure of emotions. Plagued with an unceasing guilt that welcomed both physical and emotional pain, driven by obsessive need that was only satisfied with more guilt & pain, taking irresponsible risks, that brought people to shun his self destructive nature or ride the  roller coaster with him for as long as they could.

Larrikin, scoundrel, rascal... describe the boy that fought manhood for as long as Peter Pan. When he asked you to hover at the cliff and fly with him, it was always unclear whether he was speaking in metaphors, or would be happy to test his abilities in reality. Whenever we were actually near a precipice of any sort, he would shy away from it, ever fearful that it would be just too inviting. Everything in his world was a life and death decision, and they were always weighed up without prejudice. The fact that he has squeaked through to this stage of his life is quite an accomplishment for the forces of chance.

He hurt some people. He touched parts of their souls that they denied existed. He wanted them to experience even painful emotions, not as a punishment, but as a reward for having opened their minds to the darker reaches within.

He loved people. Deeply. But I feel he never felt worthy to stay around them in case he held them back. He needed to share the hidden depths that lay within each of them, before moving on.

Never a coward, rarely a hero but always larger than life. No-one who met him, ever forgot him.

He saved my life by lifting a burning log off my back while we were fighting bushfires and again by standing back to back when we were attacked by a gang of knife wielding thugs. For him, everyday events, for me earth shattering, monumental and unforgettable. I know he has saved other lives too.

He will live on. He has made countless people think for the first time in their lives. His magnetic personality polarized many people, they were drawn to him, or repelled quickly. He will not be forgotten.

From boyhood to manhood he has been an amazing part of my life - I wish I was with you in the last weeks, old friend.