Tyrone Desperado: The Celebration of an Angel

Death eclipses everything….but when it’s unexpected, way too soon and when it happens to the gentlest of souls….there just aren’t any words….I don’t recall when I first met Tyrone, he always seemed to be there, behind the scenes. His presence might have been taken for granted but certainly not unappreciated.

It is not always sunshine that spreads the seed. Darkness makes the hardest case fragile, pain breaks it open, courage teases us, as life unfurls and expands. No one knows where the soul resides. Does it inhabit the heart, the brain? Where in the body does it hide and how might we protect it? Exposed to the light the soul seems a fragile thing…to vulnerable for scrutiny, too delicate to live…..the world is full of fragile people. They are mostly kind as was Tyrone…The tight knit New York Night Life community lost a good one..however, his memory now lives in the heart of one of the dearest people to ever walk the earth…Ike Avelli.

Love grows when nothing else is certain, changing its shape to fill the spaces required…The poetry in all this is that Comedian Ike Avelli has been lighting up the planet with his humor and kindness in what seems to be always. While we are all still trying to wrap our heads around this…most especially those closest to Ike and Tyrone as in my own circle, Billy Hess, Mark DeAlwis, Tym Moss, Wendy Kaplan, Nick Lions….it is Ike whose struggle seems inconceivable.

Last time I saw Tyrone was when he and Ike served as celebrity volunteers for the 9/11 Let Me Help, Inc Tribute and Benefit. With no hesitation they were there…helping… that was Tyrone…always there, always helping. In the exquisite cartography of the heavens Tyrone will be recognized as one of the brightest angels……To those who struggle with sadness “I wish that I could show you when you are lonely or in darkness the astonishing light of your own being”…Hafiz

Photo Credits: Billy Hess