Thursday, August 30, 2007

In Memoriam, Christopher Scofield

Last thursday my friend Poni's husband Christopher had a stroke and was taken to the local ER/stroke specialty clinic. After nearly a week of intubation and paralysis, yesterday (wed. 8/29) he passed away. As I sit here crying again, I want to talk about what this man of quiet strength meant to me.

Christopher Scofield was my local "uncle guy". Just last month he installed the step into the garage/studio in the condo (four years we've all been shlumping up & down that 11" drop and one day he and Poni showed up with supplies and he installed the step). He shared his old tool catalogs with me and talked "making stuff" in a grand fashion. He didn't care for participating in the SCA (Poni only got him into garb once last year) but he'd rig us encampment stuff in a heartbeat. I loved sharing house and project ideas with him (both of us gesturing pictures in the air.. what about this? you could do that...).

He was a small airplane/helicopter mechanic. People went out of their way to have *him* fix their machines. He loved planes and flying and airshows, motorcyles, kayaking, and scifi/fantasy novels. He knew wine & beer and at the holidays made his specialty cheeseball concoctions called "goo-balls". His favorite shows were Nova, Antiques Roadshow, and "This Old Mansion" as he called it. Gods, I'm going to miss his sense of humor. We all had the best time a couple of Christmases ago skipping all the holiday shows and instead watched Bugs Bunny cartoons. I've never laughed so hard.

Chris was a genuinely nice guy who cared about his family & friends with a deep and quiet affection. We're all going to miss him terribly.