For Jer (Jerry Remmers) Resquiescant en Pace, Rest in Peace Good Brother

Jerry Remmers was like a brother to many of us at TMV. A rare thing amongst former strangers. It went something like this… As a woman in the ‘biz’ so to speak, having the protective wing of brothers and sisters is a blessing, and I mean it. It is a rare and beautiful thing. The tiny group who play wingman and wingwoman to my work at TMV before and after it sees the light of day, are beyond meaningful to me… and Jer was one. Quick with a compliment, fast to note heart in myself and others.

I spoke with Jer on the phone many times, to give encouragement both before and after he became so ill. Early on, he wrestled with the intricacies of WordPress and would email ten emails in a row asking for help. So, I’d call him, and in many cases I’d warn him that it was the blind leading the blind… but that I’d try to help him. We did manage to get the mechanics pinned down, spiced by Jer’s ah, baseball cussing. But it didn’t bother me because Jer would immediately apologize, saying he forgot he was speaking to a lady, and then turn right around and peel the paint off the walls again. What a precious soul. The privilege was mine.

Later, when Jer was truly ill, he’d send columns by email that he was strong enough to write, but just too weak to post… and Joe G. and I would post them for Jer. Again, our honor.

I had a deal with Jer. As he became more and more ill, he said he didn’t want to talk about it incessantly, and having been on deathside twice in my life myself, I understood this. You don’t want to jinx what health and time you have left for focusing on the last doorway. So I said, we could have a guiding symbol that we could use as code to not speak about illness, but just to send encouragement daily. So, we worked out that I would say: The rooster has many more sunrises to bring to the world. And Jer would say, Right on.

And we went on that way for weeks. And then. Well, you have already heard the sad news of Jer’s passing. And tonight, here in the midst of spring-yet-winter, in this dark after midnight, I was thinking about something… Long ago, here in the Rockies, they blasted away an entire mountain in order to make a road. When you looked out, you no longer saw the mountain and that was so sad. But you also saw so much more of the sky, and that was gut-beautiful too.

There’s something like that going on with a lot of us tonight now that we know Jer’s gone home. He’s through the storm… truly he’s come through the storm and is safe now, on the other side… where I hear they have some terrific night baseball Jer…

and the view is wide open and fabulous from every seat.

See you when I see you good brother.

with love,
dr.e

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coda:
Jerry Remmers (1937-2011)> Amongst his other long endeavors, he was a sportswriter journalist.