May He Find Peace

A tragedy has struck. Clint Sezalory, Morgane's brother, died in a hospital in Varanasi, a city in northeastern India on Friday. We are all trying to cope with the sudden loss of such a unique person. There are countless emotions that accompany the passing of a loved one, emotions I could never dream of being able to properly convey. What has made this particular passing evermore difficult is the thought that it has occurred so far from home and so far from family. Though it is not something I can accomplish with mere words, what follows below is an attempt to assuage not only my own grief but to offer a bit of relief to those who loved him dearest.

Varanasi is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and famous the world over for it's religious significance for Hindus. It is on the banks of the Ganges that the believers go to wash away their sins. As one of the most important pilgrimages a Hindu can make, it is believed to be auspicious to die in Varanasi. Your soul is granted a release from its transmigrations.

Clint was a born adventurer. Though he passed just over a week after his 25th birthday, he had already seen more of the world than the billions who out of fear, poverty, or ignorance are too unfortunate to have that chance. He lived in Africa as a child, he had traversed two continents by rail (Paris to Peking), he had explored the wonders of Big Bend in Texas, and was almost finished with his three month exploration of the sub-continent when he fell ill. He was never afraid of the unknown; he knew no personal limits.

Clint's favorite comic book character was the infamous Tintin, a boy who embarks on journeys throughout the world. He keeps a figurine of Tintin on his desk, one that I have seen every day I have been here in Paris without a second thought. At some point soon after his passing I realized that that statue represents Clint to me and it will always be how I remember him—confidently stepping forward with his eyes on the horizon, ready to greet what's around the bend.


"Somewhere out across the Great Divide
Where the sky is wide and the clouds are few
A man can see his way clear to the light
Just hold on tight, that's all you got to do"