To A Friend

Yesterday, someone I have known for a long time, perhaps 25 years, died of a heart attack after yoga class. Tom Moore was a modest man, strong and smart, with a good sense of humor. He worked as a plumber, but also taught Iyengar yoga as a sub. He was always talking about his wife and his daughter and always had a quiet comment on whatever subject, including which restaurants were best, how to fix a hole in the wall, or what movies were worth seeing. He was my age, exactly, and despite his strength, had a large belly, trophy of too many good dinners, I suppose. I will always remember him, especially when I am waiting for a yoga class to start, or shooting the breeze with my classmates as I put on my socks. It is hard to believe he is gone, but I guess if he had to go, at this comparatively early age, he would say that he went the way he wanted to: after a good yoga class, surrounded by friends who love and care for him.