A Forever Friend

Since Clay disappeared in November, whenever I look at his photo or think of him(which
has been so often!), I hear his voice greeting me, "ANNIE B'NANNIE!!" Then I hear his greeting to Sally Ayotte, "SALLY RAND McNALLY!!" And I hear his laugh, always his laugh.
I am writing from McMurdo, where I am wintering over, and where I knew Clay best. I had
the pleasure of knowing Clay and working with him here at MacOps, doing field party radio
communications. While we rarely worked 'together' due to our alternating shifts, we had
common interests and friends, and we had what I sometimes call a "just add water" friendship.
It was so easy to be Clay's friend.
Many words come to mind in describing Clay: funny and quirky, solid and dependable, a gentle-man, loyal, articulate and sharp. He was wise beyond his years. Talking with a friend about the lack of clues around his disappearance, she wondered if he might have been taken by a spaceship? "Because he'd be the kind of human being, that a civilization on another planet would want to learn from!" she said. No doubt about it, he was special. He was truly a gift to us all.
Year after year, I couldn't figure out why this wonderful, tall, dark and handsome man remained
single? Until Rachel came along. Instead of being the 'girl next door', she was the 'girl on the radio crew next door'. Together, their laughs multiplied. Their love was born, and their life together grew. Since then, between Denali NPS and Glacier NPS, NZ and the ice, it has been so great to continue to cross paths with you both!
My last correspondence with Clay had to do with one of his great passions in life, career and life skills coaching. Clay was a man who lived by his convictions, he walked his talk. He did in life
as he did on the trail-encouraged us all to reach our full potential, to explore, to go the distance. As he offered me thoughts on taking the necessary steps toward a new life path, he shared a pieced-together quote from Loving What Is, by one of his recent favorite authors, Byron Katie: "We never receive more than we can handle and there is always just one thing to do... Whether you have ten dollars or ten million dollars, life never gets more difficult than that. We really are alive when we live as simply as that-open, waiting, trusting, and loving what appears in front of us now. What we need to do unfolds before us, always."
With so much love to you, Rachel, and to all of the Rubano family.