In Memory of Guillermo da Firenze:

As this annus horribilis keeps throwing out punch after punch, I find myself fluctuating between wanting to scream, wanting to throw things, and wanting to just hide in bed under the covers. Just when I thought the worst had already hit, I ran across the announcement that my friend and mentor, Master Guillermo da Firenze, lost his battle to this horrible modern day pandemic. In the thirty years that I have been playing in the SCA, I have had many experiences. But it just never even occurred to me at any point that I would eventually have to face another sad rite of passage – the death of one’s Peer.

Ugh… how does one even eulogize one’s peer? I don’t even know where to begin. I have so many wonderful memories of Guillermo. “Meemo” was a hoot! We sometimes joked that he “had a little bit too much ‘LDS’ in the sixties”. But I don’t know if that was so much a joke as it was an explanation for how he was. I remember the time that he asked me to become his protégé. I was so excited, I was absolutely GIDDY! Sure, somewhere in the back of my head, I had thoughts about someday becoming a Pelican. But I was on a full-steam-ahead course to becoming a Laurel at the time. So it felt great to know that somebody was looking at me as more than a one-path kind of person. And while Meemo did have other protégé’s as well, he and I managed to become very close. We bonded over not only SCA things, but about life. I remember when we discussed what it meant to become a protégé. Meemo told me that it meant that we were family. If I found myself in need, he would be there. That went beyond the SCA. He said very matter of fact that if I found myself in need, he would help. If I needed a place to stay, he would make up the couch. If I needed to be fed, he would feed me. That feeling of caring and unconditional acceptance meant the world to me, and it is something that I have tried my best to instill in my own relationships with my associates.

Meemo had a wonderfully child-like sense of humor. He liked to play. And the SCA made this an easy thing. On his device, his main charge is a duck. And not surprisingly, he had an odd little assortment of ducks that people had given to him over the years. One day while I strolled through the mall, I spotted the cutest little stuffed duck. But it gets better. The duck had a little button that would make it start quacking nursery rhymes – Old McDonald, Frere Jacques, and then London Bridge. Ah, but here’s the eeeeeevil toy rub. It wouldn’t stop. Once you hit the button, this annoying little duck would go through all three tunes before stopping. When I gave it to him, he looked at it with that “huh? Whu???” face that he always had, and then said rather matter of factly, “I’m going to name him, Carlton”. (Where that came from, I have absolutely NO idea). But then, I hit the button. And Meemo started laughing so hard, he had to sit down on the bed in the cabin where he eventually began to roll around from laughing so hard. He loved that duck! And for the rest of the event, he messed with people with that duck! I think I even heard it at court at one point. “Oh gods, what have I done??” I thought to myself.

I remember a Pennsic that we went to one year. Gods that year was hot! (I know, that isn’t exactly specific). But everytime I turned around, there was Meemo in a coronet, a pelican medallion… and a loin cloth. (Ohhhhh… Meemo. Oh, dear, sweet, child-of-the-60’s-Meemo.) We must have made quite a pair strolling around – me in full 15th century Italian from head to toe, and him looking… like he would not suffer heat stroke anytime soon. I remember him asking me if I was at all embarrassed walking around with him dressed like that. Kiddingly, I told him simply that it was fine….but if anybody that we knew approached, not to be surprised if my protégé belt just happened to get flung out into the brush. He laughed his ass off. And I was relieved that he got the joke. Of course, in no time, the loin cloth became too much for him, as every day he would ask what time we would be heading down to the swimming hole, which we typically did. And there, we would splash around, laugh, and just talk about life, the universe, and everything.

I always enjoyed hanging out with Meemo. He was kind of like a father, and kind of like a brother. And one of his most endearing qualities was his ability to calm me down. Seriously gang – it takes a Magician to be able to do that! And back then, when I was young, invincible, annoying as could be, and full of toooooooo much energy; anybody who had the ability to actually calm me down was doing the entire Kingdom a service! I don’t know how he did it – truly. But it seemed like nothing ever riled him up. He had such a serene manner about him – like everything was already written and decided upon. He was very accepting of life doing whatever it did. I only wish I had as much serenity as he displayed.

Meemo always stood by me. He stood by me through heartache and dark times. He stood by me through my divorce. He was just there – serene and calm. Sadly, there came a day when he became disillusioned with the SCA. One of the few areas where he and I butted heads came down to politics. In many ways, he was naïve about them. More than naïve – it was like he really didn’t politics existed in the SCA. While he was the peer and I was the associate, it felt to me like when some manipulative politics were taking place, he would be oblivious to them. I would see them clear as day. But he would trust in the good nature of people in general. And that began to affect our relationship. He would try and advise me and steer me in a direction not of his own making, but the design of people who were trying to manipulate me through him. And to me, it was so obvious; a blind man could see it. But not Meemo. He was good, and wanted only to see the good in people. But then one day, he woke up. And when he did, I think it shattered him. He and I sat down one day, and it was like the blinders had come off. I don’t know what happened that made him realize it, but he told me that he was disgusted. He saw his Order as being nothing more than a political machine that had its list of favorites that it would promote unfairly fast; while for others, there would be excuse after excuse as to why they would not be elevated. This realization seemed to have really broken him. From that point on, he wanted nothing to do with the Pelicans and pretty much stopped participating at events. He would occasionally pop in here and there, but as a visitor – not really as an active participant.

Honestly, I carry guilt about this. I never wanted to see him stop playing or participating! If anything, I just wanted him to be better armed to understand that politics did indeed happen, and not to fall victim to them. But unfortunately, it seems like once he understood, it became just too much.

The last time I saw Meemo was at a Baronial Bash several years ago. I went back to Florida to visit with the mom, and planned the visit so that it would overlap with a local event. Going to that event brought me soooooo much closure in many ways. I had fun. I saw friends. I met new friends. And I felt a ton of healing and closure that had been weighing on me. I caught up with friends. And I hugged so many people. When I saw Meemo, I started to cry. Gods, I missed him! We went for a walk. We talked. We hugged. And as it turns out, that would be the last time I saw him.

Meemo, my Pelican, my mentor. Thank you for making me a better person. I will always miss you and never forget you. I hope that wherever you are, you are laughing and playing – probably with ducks.

Lots and lots of ducks!

Baron Giuseppe Francesco da Borgia, OL, OP