I don’t know it this is happening to you, but Drew is with me everywhere. I saw him on Monday in the eyes of a guy on the airplane as we boarded our flight; two weeks ago he was standing next to me at Christy Sports as I tried on a pair of goggles (I could hear him say, “but they don’t match your jacket, Nan”), and he was with me at the gym this morning, when the workout required an unstable tele-ski stance. I wobbled for a few tries until I focused on channeling Drew’s rock solid tele-ski strength and poise. (Instant success, thank you Drew). Ahhh, teleskiing. Although many of us slowly converted from tele to alpine skis, Drew was a tele diehard. Because of that, he was one of my favorite ski buddies. But sharing the tele-bug was only part of what made Drew such a great ski buddy. Drew had a rare sense of companionship and a kindness that put people of all ability levels at ease. About 10 years ago, I had to take meds that messed with my blood pressure and made me dizzy. As a tele-skier, it was normal for me to be at the back of the pack - especially on bump runs, but with the meds, I was even further behind. Sometimes I had to stop and rest so many times that the group had already loaded the chair and headed up the lift by the time I got down. I didn’t know Drew very well at the time, but often as not, he would be standing at the bottom, waiting for me, expressing no great sense of urgency about being the last ones on the chair. The same was true slogging up the hill on back country skis, or bringing up the rear on long road rides. Drew was equally comfortable attacking at the front, or entertaining riders at the tail of the 'suffer-fest' with his stories and infectious laughter. Behind the boisterous personality, and with all the good-natured teasing that Drew dealt and received, he was fundamentally patient and kind, and I loved him for it. I think it was these small acts of kindness that connected him so quickly, and so deeply to everyone who met him. We've lost a brilliant star to the night sky; our constellation of friends will never look quite the same. Drew, we miss you.