A Tribute to Sid

When Sid's youngest son, Etienne, asked me to write a little something on the anniversary of Sid's death for his website, the first, second and third thought that went through my mind was "What can I possibly say that hasn't been said already?" Sid Bernstein was one of those rare humans who has been universally loved, praised, mourned, missed, quoted and immortalized in some fashion by everyone who ever had the honor of sharing even just a moment of his time. Even his website exists because so many people are wanting to keep his memory alive and longing to share it with the world. But for the countless number of lives he touched, it amazes me how similar the experience of knowing Sid seems to have been for so many of us. I'll bet this was the Sid you knew too: He went straight to the heart. Whether you were an international music superstar, an old friend from the neighborhood, or a brand new friend serving him a burger, you felt that he loved you and respected you and if he could, he'd somehow move heaven and earth to make your dreams come true right along with his own. In a world that hardly ever seems to cooperate with his kind of relentless optimism, Sid maintained a love of life that inspired the cautious dreamers to keep dreaming, and the courageous dreamers to rouse those dreams right into reality. He was larger than life, in so many ways, and then in the smallest moments, he could be as gentle as a whisper, offering just enough said. He loved all the basic beauties of life and encouraged the magic in anyone striving to create. He was not for the faint of heart, nor was he ever for the heartless. His ambitions ran from the subtle to the grandiose, and his achievements could not always be measured by society's standards of success. He was silly and sincere and selfish in the most admirably selfless of ways. Sid was kindness to a fault, and one of a kind forever. He loved this world, and lived this world, and for having changed this world, will somehow never leave it completely. How wonderful. How he's missed. How lucky to have met him on the way. And how fortunate every day after to have known him as my friend, Sid.

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