My tribute to Vic Whitell I first met Vic at a centre we were both attending and after meeting Vic I knew that aliens lived amongst us. At night we would go outside for a smoke and look up to the stars and I would ask sarcastically “sooo where are you from?” and with a smile and a tone of seriousness he would point and say “ hang a left at that star and bam you are there”. We developed a friendship very quickly and it grew in depth and width with time at the centre. Vics check ins and check outs at the centre are legendary and for those of us who got to expierence them they will never be forgotten. There are two people from the centre that have had a profound impact on my life one of them was Vic. In my journey thru life I have met many characters and he was truly among the finest I have ever met. I would often say publicly the world needs more Vics and it surely does. There are not enough words for Vic and anything I say seems to fall so short of what he meant to the world. I know from expierence for those of us who suffer from substance abuse there are two sides to us. When we are under the influence of mind altering substances we are not who we are, and when we are not and thru sustained abstinence we become who we really are meant to be. I met both sides of Vic, but I met the real Vic at the centre we were both at. A regular routine was him and I going for walks. Our discussions were just two people sharing from the heart, at times we would be laughing so hard we had to sit down and other times we each shed a few tears. Our friendship was not defined by age, expierence or history. It was two like minded souls meeting at a time when we were suppose to. A very memorable moment for me and it was a “burning bush moment of sorts” was when we were talking about success in life. For a period of my life I expirenced all those worldly succeesses, money, status, material things that Vic was eager to obtain. I shared with him that none of them materialized while I was using, they all happened when I stayed clean/sober earlier in my life. He understood this and I truly believe he wanted to live a life of abstinence. I shared with Vic that he has obtained a success that very few people will ever obtain and most people envy his gift. Vic had the gift of compassion, humour and felt it was his purpose to make peoples day brighter whether it was his friends/family/acquintances or enduring the betrayal of false friends. He seldom spoke bad of anyone and if did he quickly corrected himself to see the good in a person despite his better judgement. I said to him once that I truly believe the measure of success is knowing that you have made a difference in a persons day and that he makes a difference in peoples lives daily that cannot be quantified. Vic was more than a friend, he was in so many ways a hero to me. He saw life thru a lense that people envied because he had the balls to be himself despite the challenges it brought. I take comfort in knowing that his art will be passed on to future generations and he will still be making a difference in peoples lives. My heartfelt sympathy and compassion go out to Vics family and Misa. He would often talk about his admiration for his family and the unending support of Misa. He realized how fortunate he was and i truly believe he wanted to give back to those that carried him for so long. Beyond the pain and sorrow I know i will arrive at a point where my admiration and thankfulness for Vic will grow. He will continue to bring a smile to my face and i know beyond a shadow of a doubt i will see my friend and hero again. Whenever Vic left the house or we ended a phone conversation he would always end the goodbye with a “love ya man” and i would reply “love you too”. I will dearly miss my hero, my roommate, my friend, He gave me so much in such a short period of time the only way i know how to thank and honor Vic is by making someone’s day a little brighter whether its being kind or soliciting a smile. Its my promise to you Vic. Your friend Spence