To be in the presence of Brian meant you were safe. Safe to be yourself and feel not just accepted but encouraged; safe to reveal your insecurities and be coached by him to feel like those could be your strengths; safe to say something ridiculous and him say "I hate you" which really meant you were in with him. Every moment I had with him and saw him have with others built us up.
And in between all of those teaching and setting us right moments, are the memories I'm thinking of right now which are of Brian just being. The snort he'd make when he was clearing his nose and throat just like Millie did -- I swear Brian found his spirit animal in her. The way he'd come up behind you and gently bump you to let you know he was there with you. The way he'd plop into the desk chair in the late afternoon and you realized it was the first time he sat all day, and how he would regularly check in on you with a call or an early morning facetime. While I will miss Brian and those small and big moments, but there is some comfort in knowing Brian is with Millie again, both trying to out grump each other, that I'll continue to feel his presence in all those hard moments, and that he's finally at rest not having to worry about the next ask of him or the non-stop emails in his inbox (but let's be real, he wasn't worrying about those emails before, and I loved that about him).
To be in the presence of Brian meant you were safe. Safe to be yourself and feel not just accepted but encouraged; safe to reveal your insecurities and be coached by him to feel like those could be your strengths; safe to say something ridiculous and him say "I hate you" which really meant you were in with him. Every moment I had with him and saw him have with others built us up.
And in between all of those teaching and setting us right moments, are the memories I'm thinking of right now which are of Brian just being. The snort he'd make when he was clearing his nose and throat just like Millie did -- I swear Brian found his spirit animal in her. The way he'd come up behind you and gently bump you to let you know he was there with you. The way he'd plop into the desk chair in the late afternoon and you realized it was the first time he sat all day, and how he would regularly check in on you with a call or an early morning facetime. While I will miss Brian and those small and big moments, but there is some comfort in knowing Brian is with Millie again, both trying to out grump each other, that I'll continue to feel his presence in all those hard moments, and that he's finally at rest not having to worry about the next ask of him or the non-stop emails in his inbox (but let's be real, he wasn't worrying about those emails before, and I loved that about him).
