Sunday, April 18, 2021
July 12, 1979, I met Tex at the Detroit Airport. He wore his cowboy hat and he was the first person I met in the Youth For Understanding US group travelling to Zurich, Switzerland that evening. As luck would have it- our flight was delayed, and a group of us sat on the airport floor of our gate area and got to know each other. I had never met anyone from Texas before. I spoke very little French and was anxious but excited to spend a year living with a Swiss family I did not yet know, attending a school in a foreign language and confronting new situations and friends through a cloudy cultural lens.
On that unforgettable day in July 1979, sitting by Lance and enjoying his amazing humor and stories calmed my anxiety so only the excitement remained. So when I encountered Tex (as he became known to our YFU clan) in August at Thun, in February at Meiringen for our YFU ski week and on our flight home to the US July 1980- I was so delighted to have my new friend from Texas at the center of our group. Reading Lance's obituary- made me sad that google and social media were not more developed in the 80s and 90s- I would have loved to have followed his amazing career. I will review it now.
To his family: May I raise a glass and say: "Proscht! to a life well lived and a man whose heart was bigger than the Matterhorn. May he rest in peace. As his favorite Beatles band would say- 'All you need is love'. Love, Elizabeth Marazita (YFU Switzerland 1979-1980)
