I met Beatnik in the late 1970’s when he moved from 733 to 337 Avenue A. I was the paperboy and Beatnik’s friend Melody (who was moving out of the apartment at 337) told Beat that I was a poor neighborhood kid and that he needed to continue buying the paper from me. I really wasn’t poor, I had a large paper route and always wore old clothes because I didn’t want to ruin my good clothes with newspaper ink. Meeting Beatnik had an immediate impact on me and he quickly figured out that I wasn’t poor. Beat was the first adult in my life that I could call my friend! The other adults were all good people, but Beatnik spoke to me and treated me as an equal. He was interested in what I had to say and always made time to talk with me. He listened to every word and offered advice when he thought I needed it. Reflecting on those days, I don’t know how he did it. I could talk the legs off a table and Beatnik had a good ear and the patience of a Saint. As time went on, I became very close with Beat & Linda. I was in my early 20’s when they jumped the broom and I gave Linda away at their wedding. Linda said “since you can’t have me, can you at least give me away “! I was so proud to be thought of in such high regard by my adult friend and his beautiful bride. I remember one camping trip that we went on when Phil was still small. We started diving off a trestle bridge into Keen Lake and Beatnik was bummed out because he didn’t have swim trunks with him. I went to my van and got him a pair of my basketball shorts. Beatnik made an awesome dive from the trestle and the basketball shorts came flying off when he hit the water. Now, Beat was standing to the side wrapped in a towel, holding Phil’s hand and a little girl walking by with her parents pointed at him and said, “Mommy & Daddy, look it’s Jesus”! I could go on forever about my friend Beatnik and our families, but I will stop here and say that Beat was a fine man with a gentle, loving heart. If you were a friend of Beatnik’s, you knew it, and there were no limits to what he would do for you. You see, the little girl at the swimming trestle was right! We will get through this, but we won’t get over this. We love you and will miss you dearly.