Monday, March 6, 2017
I met Dan when I began to volunteer at the Diabetes Society in San Jose in 2003. I remember walking into a room full of women and seeing Dan in the center of it all. For many years he committed - every week - to help sort, fold and stuff envelopes for their mass mailings. He sometimes recruited other residents in his apartment complex to join him at the Diabetes Society so, at times, he increased our small group of volunteers when brought along a neighbor or two.
When he retired from driving some of us became his designated drivers. We all looked forward to seeing him each week - hearing him talk about the "good old days," smiling whenever we heard him say (when things went wrong) that it was still "better than a poke in the eye with a big stick," hearing about his activities with SIRs or his church group and laughing whenever we caught him recording us.
Dan's Aug. 22 birth date coincides with that of my partner's so for many years a group of us - Alison, Harriett, Al and myself - would meet for a joint birthday lunch at the Red Lobster where Dan would order his predictable crab cake lunch. It was a joy to meet Dan and I know I'll always smile whenever I think of him.
