Tribute to Eric

All of us hitchhiking through Europe that summer grew up in Sunnyvale, Calif., and most of us lived within two blocks of one another.

Eric was on Susan Way, as well as Kent. I lived nearby on Morningside Drive. And, Frank was a bit further away.

Of my three traveling companions, Eric was my closest buddy.

He was also, by far, the calmest of the group. Not much would upset him, at least on the surface. And, people just naturally gravitated to him.

While Kent and I were extermely competitive, and Frank was the jester, Eric just sort of floated through life without creating too many waves.

He also never complained. I remember, one day, early in our adventure, after walking most of the day in the rain, we were completely soaked. Water was squirting out of the tops of my boots with every step. In short, we were soaked, freezing, hungry, and exhausted from carrying our heavy backpacks. When, we started to near our destination, he turned to me with a big smile and said, "Let's race the last mile." I felt like killing him, but, then I started to laugh. He could always do that to me.

Another thing with Eric was that good things generally happened to him.

Once, when he was in Denmark with Frank, they were talking about how hungry they were and how nice it would be to have some bread.

Just then, a bakery truck turned the corner, and the back door flew open. Out came some bread and pastries -- freshly baked and neatly wrapped. The truck continued on, and Eric calmly walked over and picked up the unintended gifts.

Another time, he was in what is now the Czech Republic, alone and between towns as nightfall approached. The wind was picking up, and the only shelter for miles was a single oak tree. (When he told the story, we were all looking forward to a situation where things actually went bad for him. After all, he was talking to us. So, he at least survived.)

In any case, as he approached the oak, he could see it contained a tree house. He climbed up and found shelter from the elements before noticing a creek nearby. When he walked there, it turned out to be a hot springs. So, he took a bath before calling it a night.

Eric was definitely one lucky guy!

But, he's the only one of us not still around.

He died of cancer at age 33. My son was born shortly before his death and is named after him.

Buddy, we'll never forget you.