Sent: Saturday, February 04, 2006 7:37 PM
Subject: What a long strange trip it's been

 

Greetings Fellow Humans,

 

    May peace prevail on earth.  People often put this at the end of their communications, but this should be put at the beginning.  This was the one thought and prayer that Steve Diamond would have liked to convey to all of you prior to his passing this morning at 7:05 am. 

We will have a small gathering tomorrow afternoon (Sunday the 5th) at 2:00 pm at Judy's house:  2629 Montrose Place, Santa Barbara, CA 93105  Please feel free to bring food or drink.  We are planning a more formal memorial for March.  (more on that below)

 

     We are thankful that he passed in Santa Barbara, the place that he loved so much. He said when he moved back here that he never wanted to leave. It is with great joy to know that he passed in his spiritual home.

    His family was with him this week and his brother enjoyed a fun and humorous conversation with him last night until 1 am.  The nurses that were with him this last week were so incredible, amazing, caring, and we know that he was so happy and lucky to have them at his side. 
  
 Today, while I (Maya) was saying goodbye to him, one of the nurses came in and told me that he said, "I know that whatever god wants for me will be the right thing." (or something to that effect).  These last two days he was so happy and thankful and appreciative for all the love that he received from us and around the globe.  I know that he really felt that in his last days here on earth.  We know that his spirit will live on inside of us (his daughters) and the mission of one day in peace will live on through his partners around the world. 
    He was so humorous until the end. Yesterday he joked about how he might get an Indian man's heart, and then he started talking in an Indian accent, he said maybe, "I  will get babuu's heart."  We were in stitches, laughing. 
   We definitely would like to invite you all to a Memorial/Wake/Ceremony that will probably occur on March 4th at the Wilcox Property (that is the tentative plan, but it is still very much in the works). 
 
 This is Crescent here-  I walked on the beach this afternoon and saw the dogs playing and the waves crashing.  I saw my dad in the rambunctious doggies and the beautiful surf.  Thanks for all of your prayers and thoughts, I know he heard them all.  As far as the Memorial goes, we are also considering holding one in Massachusetts, since so many friends and family live on the East Coast.  Please email  us back and let us know what you think about that.  For those of you who called in the last few days, I will not be calling you back, but you can email me if you need to speak to me.  I am finding it hard to talk, especially with people that I don't know. 

Steve left his legacy to us with his journals.  I started reading one from December and I want to share it with you now.  He started writing his memoirs in the last few months.  He told us to sell them on eBay in 10 years (yeah right!)

"The whole incarnation was a blast, sometimes I thought of it as "Stevie's Remarkable Run Through the Last Half of the 20th Century!" Complete with showers of sparks coming off the clickety-click heels of his boots, hell bent for love, life and flesh, and driven by what?  Some would say driven by the need to experience all that life has to offer, even from the confines of his "itinerant Writer" life; certainly he lived by his own (non-existent) rules.

He refers to his last surgery as his "heart opening" and told us this week that he "finally grew up". 

I will always remember him smiling, laughing and wanting everyone to have a good time. 

Please forward this email to anyone who knew Steve, as there are hundreds of people all over the world who love him.  I received phone calls from Columbia to Holland.

  May he rest in peace knowing that he had all the love and support of those he loved around the world.