August 4, 2018
Indian Rocks Beach, 12th Ave Access
We gathered a month ago to sort through Gary’s things & bring a little finality to his residence… didn’t work out quite so well, seeing as Google (in its infinite wisdom) sent people from Michael’s Craigslist ad to 12th Avenue North in St. Petersburg, instead of 12th Avenue in Indian Rocks Beach… no wonder nobody showed up!
Anyway here we are a month later to the day practically, and we gather once again to pay our final respects to out cousin Gary Juers, who passed unexpectedly on July 2, 2018. His older brother Michael, now the patriarch of all us 1st cousins, arranged it to be right on the beach, just a stone’s throw from Gary’s house on 12th Avenue.
Many of the people closest to Gary were there. Michael & 2 of his boys David & Charlie… Andy their mom Pam couldn’t make it. But Pam’s sister did… neighbors & friends Tony & Shari, and Robert & Wednesday were there, along with Eric & Christina & of course Gary’s girlfriend Jodi.
Michael addressed us all at sunset, which was a beautiful sunset too. Almost divine…
Ironically, Gary’s zodiac sign is Leo, and when I opened up my SkyView app on my phone, the constellation Leo was with us, right there on the horizon of the sunset. Just above the planet Mercury. Not only that, but Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, & Venus were all visible to the naked eye that night. It was a stellar send off, you could say.
Michael played a harmonica rendition of Amazing Grace & Taps, & everyone shared each other’s company & stories & tears. I admit I wasn’t close to Gary because of distance, etc- but I was glad to be around the people who ARE close to him, to learn from them that Gary was a good man, a good neighbor & friend. More to come later…
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