Missing Mitch

I tried to make it to Mitch Van Yahres's memorial service, which started 1 hour, 15 minutes ago. But even arriving at 1:54 pm with a line of only 5 cars in front of me and 15 behind, I could tell it was a no-starter. In the farthest lots, black-suited men with walkie-talkies were parking SUVs in the landscaped islands and bushes. After 10minutes of circling 3-4 lots, I didn't know what to do with myself, so I went back to work.

I wanted to go because I miss Mitch. I didn't know him well, but I enjoyed his company and his viewpoint every time I met him, usually through Dems functions. He seemed to me to be a fierce believer in the power of the common person to effect a positive change. I'd go further and say he absolutely expected it--of all of us--but I'm afraid of overstepping. After all, I'm a cynic who doesn't believe most people will get off their tukuses until forced to do so. It is difficult to believe that a man could live in this modern world to age 81 and still maintain such ideals and such ethics. But it wasn't difficult to believe in him--he had a double helping both.

Never mattered if I agreed with him on something (living wage) or not (the erstwhile Rivanna Parkway), I was always ridiculously pleased to see him, talk with him, take in his opinon. Judging by the faces of others around me, everyone else in the Democratic party had a similar reaction.