Today, in the small area near the freight elevator, in a place where we would likely see Erving, there was a memorial to him. He was the superintendent of our building and he passed away on Thursday when I was coming home from Dallas. We knew each other enough to make those small ribbings about who's working and who's slacking, complaints about the weather, construction on the block, those mini conversations that make a place routine and comfortable. It would have been a perfect day for him to catch some extra sun, leaning against the building, and for me to give him just a sentence of poking for it.
There were times when Erving's visits to our offices felt intrusive. (They were always spontaneous.) But he never left the area without laughing and trying to get a laugh . In talking to a friend and co-worker of his this morning I realized that my mixed feelings about these interruptions could have been tempered if I had realized that the office space was more Erving's than mine. Was, actually, totally his.
I should have figured that out, you know, before.
will be missed
It's always hard to say goodbye.
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