Well, not always, but, I am often pondering. Yesterday Nick and I went to a memorial service for a man we have known for almost 40 years. And didn't really know at all. Dr. Warren Yates was a linguist at FSI ( the State Dept's Foreign Service Institute)...Nick had just started working for the State Department in 1975, were assigned our first overseas tour- Thailand. Part of preparing for our transition to living there, we studied Thai at FSI. We studied Thai for 10 months We met Dr Yates back then and we saw him, either when he was instructing us, or just passing in the hall. He was an every day presence in our lives.
Fast forward to 1998. I started attending UUCF (Universal Unitarian Congregation of Fairfax) . The first day I went to church there, who should I see by Dr Yates. Better known as Warren.
He was a "character", an overused word. He had some history. Farm kid from Georgia. Soldier and POW in WWII. A scholar. A father, a friend. He was loved and he loved. He was a sort of Will Rogers from the sounds of it- to paraphrase, he never met a man he didn't like.
As so often happens, we learn more about a person after they are gone than we ever knew during their life
It is enlightening to learn. Learning about someone's life is almost a sort of voyeurism, but in a good way. Looking at a life past and seeing so many points of view for the first time.
Warren died just short of his 95th birthday. So full of intellect to the end.
ลา (good bye Warren)
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