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Goodbye, Yuri

I'd like to take a minute to say farewell to an old and dear friend.  I'm
taking up your precious bandwidth because I think the whole community
should be aware that we're all losing someone of incalculable value, and
it's an opportunity to fill some of you in on some background that goes
back to our junior high & high school days together.

Yup, Yuri and I go way back - beyond the time when either of us had heard
of "debate", much less dreamed that it would consume the better part of
our lives up to this point.  We learned to love this activity together,
and although we parted ways upon graduation, he entering the CEDA
community, myself heading for NDT pastures, we have always drifted back
into each other's life.  I'd like to thank everyone who made this year's
merger possible, if only because it meant we got to spend his last (say it
ain't so, Joe!) year together.  

>From Yuri I learned patience and persistence, as well as respect.  I
watched him grow from enthusiastic participant to exemplary coach, all the
while remaining true to his Texas roots, always willing to stand up for
what he believed in, throwin' down with the best of 'em when necessary.
For that, I will always look up to and admire him.

I also remember (well, the details are kind of fuzzy) wheelchair races in
convention hotels, ill-advised excursions into foreign countries, and a
lust for life which is without equal.  Everytime we get together, I'm
fully aware that one of us may not come back alive, and I go along anyway,
willingly and without hesitation (much hesitation, anyway). 

I'm going to miss you, Yuri.  Glen & I will do our best to keep your
spirit alive, but it won't be the same without you.  Here's hoping the
"real world" is as uninteresting to you as it was to me - I'd like nothing
better than for you to come scurrying back to us as soon as possible.
I'll keep the shots coming in the meantime.

Adios, amigo

Dave
Archive created by Jonathan Stanton (jonathan@cs.jhu.edu)
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