SoMa Without Glen

Yesterday, the folks in SoMa had a going away party for my friend Glen, but unfortunately I was unable to attend.

I can honestly say that he is one of my really good friends, and SoMa will not be the same without him. Although the community and I are very excited for Glen entering a graduate program in Social Work at Uof W, we can't help but feel that a big part of SoMa's heart will be leaving.

I first met Glen when I volunteered for SoMa Fest about five or six years ago. He asked me to pass out Treasure Trolls to the kids. Mind you, these Treasure Trolls looked like Chippendale Dancers, with bow ties and black pants. I still have the piece of paper that he wrote his contact information on. I found it when I cleaned out the office. It's always interesting to find things that remind you of your friends.

We were also part of Student Action for Veterans Equity, and other organizations in SoMa. He's accompanied me on various occassions to bring ashes of Filipino WWII Veterans to the Philippine Consulate, so that they could be brought home to their families. Only real homies do that for you---take time out of their busy day and wait at the Consulate with you.

We had our routine down whenever I would visit. I would call him as I was driving down to the city, just to give him an idea of what time I would be arriving in SoMa. I would wait or meet up with him at the FADF office inside Bayanihan. I would always be hungry, so we would spend about twenty minutes discussing where and what we wanted to eat, but always end up getting pizza at Chico's. We would spend the rest of the day burping up Chico's and just laugh about it as we walked over to FEC. At the end of each day, we would meet up with Jose to get something to eat and hang out. Most of the time, we would spend an hour or so driving through Chinatown, North Beach, and J-Town, to figure out what we're going to eat. We would eventually just end up at Denny's or Mel's Diner on Mission. Haha. Always good times.

I am extremely proud of Glen, what he's accomplished, and what he will be accomplishing. I can't imagine how different it's going to be without Glen in SoMa. But I wish him all the luck and blessings on his new journey!