I remember the first time we met. I was sitting in Jennifer’s office crying. She had died only a couple of days before and I was there trying to attend to her mail and phone messages. The phone rang and I didn’t want to talk to anybody so I was just going to let the caller leave a message. The caller was you. I picked up the phone immediately because I knew who you were, even though we’d never met or spoken. You had been out of town but had gotten the message that Jennifer had died and you were calling to express your sorrow. Now I'm the one expressing his sorrow.

That was in January of 1998 and since then we’ve become good friends. You helped me deal with my grief in the best way possible…by helping me to find a way to continue Jennifer’s work. You were both enlisted in the battle to get the word out on how specific and sometimes controversial nutrition intervention could help people who were HIV+. Everyone who knows you knows about your tireless efforts in this endeavor. You even flew out to California in 1993 because you had heard about a Registered Dietitian named Jennifer Jensen who was promoting many of the same nutritional interventions for Positive People that you were, and the voices who were doing so in those days were few and far between. The chemistry between you two was instant, both professionally and personally. You became friends as well as colleagues.

Though my work was far a field from Jennifer’s, she would talk to me about her work all the time, and often, your name was part of the conversation. Jennifer loved you, Chester. I know you know that. You helped her tremendously with your extensive scientific background and you were an inspiration to her in your commitment to saving lives. You invited her to do some workshops in the Toronto area and even brought your cat, Purr, to one of them. You both loved cats…that was another bond between you.

Your grief over Jennifer’s death was also great. I could hear it in your voice. But like many who work in the HIV/AIDS battle, it was certainly not the first time you’d had to deal with it. You wrote to me a bit about some of those losses. So you knew what the terrain of my grief must be like too. When I came up with the idea of creating a Web site for Jennifer that would be not just a memorial to her, but also an HIV-related nutritional site where visitors could get good information on the subject, you were 100% behind me. When I wanted to recruit a Virtual Faculty of nutrition experts for it to answer online questions, you were the first to volunteer and the one who helped me recruit the others. Without your encouragement and participation, it would not have been possible. Not only did you think the Web site was a good idea in its own right, but you also knew how much it did for me to express my love for Jennifer in the way that would’ve been most important to her…her work. And at the AIDS Candlelight Vigil in Toronto that year, you brought a candle for Jennifer. You were helping the husband of your friend, someone you’d never met before, contend with his loss. And in the process you became his friend too.

I’m sorry I didn’t have a chance to say goodbye to you, Chet. This is my goodbye. Maybe you can hear it and maybe you can’t. I don’t know how this after-death stuff works; if there’s some kind of heaven or not. If there is, then I am happy that you are reunited with Jennifer and others you've lost. For you all, it will be Hello again, not Goodbye. Perhaps this is just wishful thinking on my part, but it doesn’t really matter. Dreams and wishes are part of our lives here too, and it helps me to wish it.

Thank you for helping me, Chet. Thank you for helping Jennifer. Thank you for helping countless people around the world with your knowledge, your persistence, and your love. It doesn’t matter, in the end, that I never met you in person. I know who Chester Myers is, and he is much more than the body he used to inhabit. Chester Myers is an example of what a human being can and should be. And if the way this all works is that you continue now in a form that is beyond human, then I have no doubt you are a terrific one of those too. For when all is said and done, it’s all about heart and yours is as big as they come.

I'll be lighting a candle for you, Chet, and putting it in my heart next to the one that burns for Jennifer.