Kavi once sat me down on a bench and told me that I was sitting in the exact spot that Clive Owen had sat a week earlier. He then took me on a 45 minute tour of U of M’s campus to retrace the steps of Clive Owen the previous week. …The steps that Kavi could only know because he had casually stalked Clive Owen for an afternoon. … Or an entire day? The details of the stalking were hard to get out of him. There was a lot of giggling.

When friends I knew, new friends, people that I had begun to love and cherish would hear me speak about Kavi, they’d usually quite quickly realize this is someone whom they’d learn a great much about before ever meeting him. “You don’t have to preface the story with “my friend, Kavi…. we know who he is. We practically know him from all the things you’ve told us” they’d proclaim. It’s true. I’d gush about him. I’d gush and I’d gush. But those moments when I got to watch people meet Kavi for the first time were some of the most delightful. Because no matter how much I hyped the man, he always blew people away. The way Kavi made others feel when around him is a feat unto itself. I recall dearly Kavi and Kevin Niemela meeting for the first time and upon seeing their friendship blossom I was filled with such adoration. Kavi spread love and joy so readily.

My girlfriends through the years have been seriously worried and insecure because of the level of love I spoke about Kavi Pandey. They were afraid, they said, that I would never love them like I loved him. I was without words of comfort in these moments, moments that often led to divisions and eventual breakups. The truth is they have always been right. He is a love supreme.

Well, I’m crying now. Love you all.