We have been able to pull the preliminary details together to have a memorial celebration for Gene at No Cattle Company this Sunday, June 27. A deacon will lead a Catholic service with communion at the San Juan Mission Church right there in front of the farm. After that we can gather down at the farm and continue a Gene-style remembrance, helping to send his spirit soaring from the place he loved most on earth. Since potluck seems to be the style of farm parties, if we could continue that tradition, that would be appreciated.
The church service will begin at 3 PM. The farm celebration/memorial will continue immediately afterwards and go until….. Most of you know how to get to No Cattle, but if it is your first visit, or you’ve not been there in awhile, the physical address is 2290 Hwy 61, San Juan NM 88057. You can contact Patty Dana for further information and directions, questions, suggestions on places to stay; her cell is 505-980-0578.
The plans for the San Diego Memorial are not yet in place other than knowing it needs to be in the next few weeks. Several of you have shared calendar constraints and I’m glad to know those so continue to share them. A weekday late afternoon-evening might work best and I’m open to any suggestions on a location. I know that Gene touched the lives of a lot of his students and I’d want time to get the word out to them.
GeneCentral is not going away in the near future. As I’ve told several of you, my recovery will take time and I will need to tap into all of your many offers of support over time.
Mrs. Gail Valles and family members,
ReplyDeletePlease accept my deepest condolence for the passing of Gene Valles.
I am deeply saddened by his passing.
I have known Dr. Valles since the beginning of October 2009 through another faculty at SDSU. We connected immediately as if we knew each other from a past life, and I was able to engage in profound topics with Gene in a way that does not happen too often in my life. By the way, most of our dialogues happened at Starbucks in the Mission Valley Hazard Center.
We talked about children, children's spirits, what is to be an educator, about Zen, about Aikido, about discipline, about disability, and much more. We touched and had a dialogue on so many topics. Even though our physical connection was short, the depth and width that was covered in our conversations were beyond my expectations.
As a new student at SDSU, and being a little cockish, irratic and unpredicatable at times in my questions and views, he still had the patience and kindness to embrace my viewpoints and carry on a dialogue. It is hard to put all my thoughts and feelings into words. But allow me to say that he was a great mentor and friend; and he has left a part of him with me. It is my hope and wish to cultivate that part that he left in me, add upon it, develop upon it, and pursue my passion to make a difference in this world.
I have not met you yet but please do not hesitate to contact me; I would love to share the talks we had, and possibly even continue them.
Sincerely,
Yuji Shimogori
yuji7508@yahoo.co.jp