“So. This weekend I learned that one of my old friends and a former roomate, Jonathan Gilmour, passed away in edinbourough Scotland sometime last week at the age of 29. As news of this caliber is sometimes tough to take, I have slowly sarted to come to grips with it. It has taken a couple of days and a couple of choked up phone calls to get me to the point where I would like to write something about it. John was the most motivated person I have ever known. He got out of college, like the rest of us…with no real direction. He worked at a dot.bomb for a while before he found his true passion, working with animals. We were living together in a four bedroom mansion (if Jon had his way, we would have put a couch in the kitchen…it was f—ing hugh) out in Medford, Mass. at the time and we both were going through professional crisis’. Jon wanted to feed the penguins at the Boston Aquarium and I wanted to become a graphic designer. neither of us knew how to go about it. He volunteered, cutting his teeth for no pay, long hours, and in cold water with flightless birds nibbling at his wet suit. He worked as a delivery driver to make ends meet, driving his white Subaru around town delivering packages to people he had never met. Then he got a job as a zoo keeper with the Franklin Park Zoo. We used to throw house parties that were pretty awesome. We’d get a keg, wait for our landolord and his wife (they lived downstairs) to go to their beach house on the Cape and then invite all of our friends over. These parties always ended with people getting freaky to the stereo. Jon led the pack on the dance floor. Any time he wanted to do something, he just plain did it. He wanted to learn breakdancing. He make some phone calls and joined a breaking group in Harvard Square. he was a go-getter. He had an unbelieveable drive. If there is anything I learned from Jon, it is that no matter what, you HAVE to do what you want to do, no matter how hard it is. Because if you don’t go and do what you want to do…you will only be left with disappointment and questions. Jon also had a penchant for making me laugh with his incredible control over his face. He would mimic anything from animals to peoploe to inanimate objects. Whether he was channelling the chewing power of a sea turtle or craining his neck like a giraffe…he made me smile and laugh. I will miss that. I met Gilly when I was 18. I last saw him when I was 26. Both times I was dancing.”

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