The intellect is forced to choose
perfection of the life or of the work-The Choice, W.B. Yeats.
Derek was a renaissance man whose mind embraced the sciences, the spirit and the arts and whose heart embraced the people he loved.
Derek was driven to enquire and to create and he could easily lose himself in the life of the mind. But he was always called back to the heart by Aoibhe, Cole and Cora.
Derek did not choose between perfection in love or perfection in his work.
He yearned and sought perfection and fulfilment in both.
That is his legacy.
You do not have to choose.
Derek did both, maybe not to peperfection (though Godknows he was a perfectionist), but to the best ability of his loving heart and his brilliant mind.
He will be missed in death as much as he was loved in life
I can't believe I will never sit at the table while he forgets to make a cup of tea and we chat about the meaning of life and whether the Beatles were really better than the Stones (I was only messing Derek, we all know the Beatles were the best) and then Aoibhe would come in and make the tea and make us stick to the agenda. But it was all on the agenda, really and it was all part of healing and learning and growing. I am privileged to have known and grown with Derek and his family.
Siobhan