I 'm not Dennis.

I 'm Robert, and I had the great pleasure of knowing Dennis for nearly 20 years.

I only just tonight figured out how he signed on to this blog so that I could write a guest entry. I'm not sure Dennis would approve.

For those readers who aren't facebook friends or otherwise connected I am sorry to tell you that Dennis ended his valiant fight with cancerS on March 15th.

Note the capital S. TWO @$&*ing kinds of cancer. I know that Dennis tried to keep the tone of this blog positive but as a guest I get to say how absolutely gut-wrenchingly stupid it is that a man who fought off HIV for 20 years had to get not 1, but 2 cancers and die from them. Especially a man with the wit, charm, style and talent of Dennis.

On the positive side, at the outset of all this I made a promise to Dennis to keep him at home as long as we possibly could. Well that worked out. I strongly suspect his strong will played a part in it but a hospice bed never opened for him. Thus, he spent his final days at home, surrounded by friends, family, food, wine, weed, music and Turner Classic Movies.

He was declared house-bound on President's Day weekend and died just about a month later. Looking back on it with all the tears, laughter and "situations" it may have been the best month of my life. I was very grateful to get to spend that last bit of quality time with a dear friend. I was also happy to help him with his daily chores. But mostly, and often I'm sure he wished we would disappear I was thrilled to surround him with his loving friends.

Another crazy thing about this month is that Violet became an actual pet. While still afraid of standing people once everyone was seated she would come out of hiding and request attention if not actual affection. And, as the house quieted each night Violet would jump up onto Dennis' bed to sleep with him, something she never did prior. She made it very difficult for me to honor the arrangement that Dennis and Laura made for Laura to take her. However, in the end I know it was right because (sadly) Violet blossomed because she was finally an only cat after Junie died. Dennis knew it and was happy that she was going to Laura's cat-free house.

There is a celebration of his life planned on May 26th from 4-7pm. If you don't already know about it and want details post a comment and I'll be in touch.

Dennis, I love you. I miss you. You'll always be with me. You'll always be remembered by all of us.