Photo by Angelina
"We are gathered here today to pay our respects to the wind. A fierce gale that rose unexpectedly up out of the west, blew relentlessly through our lives for a time, then fell suddenly, deafeningly still earlier this week.
Dayn Schulman was not some light breeze through our lives. He was a roaring, gale-force hurricane of coyote laughter, full-moon love and cougar strength. He leaped from the highest trees and cliffs and rooftops and filled the entire night sky with a beautiful, crazy tapestry of falling stars. He broke from top to bottom, barreling with jaw dropping size and grace and majesty on the outer reefs of our lives.
But Dayn was not just a simple act of nature. He was life itself. Often challenging, sometimes confusing, always inspiring. Winston Churchill once said that "Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it." Likewise Dayn carried us high up into the sky whether we wanted to or not, always laughing wildly and pitching us about so violently that you couldn't help but start laughing with him- if only out of some abiding, disbelieving fear.
He was a telephone call at all hours, a lone voice singing over the line- completely uncaring whether you listened or not. He was a condor on the thermals high over a Big Sur ridgeline. He was a big smile and a late take-off at Moss Landing. He was a lover, a lifelong embrace, the dearest, truest friend I ever had.
"For what is it to die," asked Kahlil Gibran. "But to stand in the sun and melt into the wind?"
We must be careful not to moralize the way in which Dayn left us. There is a moral tied to the wind's tail like a barb. The wind will turn and turn and turn. The hook wants to bury itself into my flesh and beckon me to the surface, corkscrewing, ashimmer, the world around me glowing green-gold like beaten metal.
I won't bite. I loved Dayn as much as I loved any soul on this planet. As such, I remain immensely proud that I shared his name with my son and I look forward to sharing Dayn's spirit with my boy as he gets older.
"Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are."
Thank you, Dayn. Thank you, brother. Goodbye for now!"
-RM, 11/25/06
Photo by Angelina
