Between my deadline for this column and its publication in the wee morning hours of Sunday, I will attend a wake at my beloved soccer bar, the British Bulldog. Or maybe it is a memorial, I am not quite sure.
What I do know is that a community will be gathering. A community that included Damian, the person we will be remembering. A community that will be toasting his life, singing his praises and supporting each other. It is a blessing so many of us missed during the pandemic and maybe still gets overlooked too often.
In this case, I did not know Damian well on an individual level. But I did know him. I knew quite a bit about him because of his place in our shared corner of the world.
