Last night I learned about the passing of a dear former colleague. In DC, one of the first things you ask people is what do you do and Paul Shafer was one of those guys who answered by showing you who he was. He was a strong, and gentle, independent, caring, and brave soul who reminded us all that physical failings dont disable people. We disable people or empower them when we create systems that help overcome physical limitations. We all sighed when it came time to put our IT projects through Impact 508 compliance. It was a task that the sighted couldnt conceive or imagine the importance of until you met Paul. Then you wanted Paul to be your thinking partner as you figured out whether your site was broken for the unsighted. You were drawn by his force of resilience, this blind man who could ski black diamonds. His headphones helped keep out the tremendous din of background noise that the sighted dont notice because we have that fifth sense to distract us. When you rely on your hearing to compensate for your sight, the background noise can be truly painful. I remember going to happy hour with Paul and learning how he doesnt do that often because of the noise level in bars. But he went anyway, to get to know me better, and to celebrate getting The Sounding Board up and running with new software. I remember thinking how much weaker we are for having five senses, because this man with four at his disposal is stronger than I will ever be. We talked about adventure, and he told me about his skiing. In the din of DC life, you get busy, and these work relationships you strike up fall by the wayside. Without another IT project to validate for 508 compliance, I only saw Paul at events organized by our Office of Civil Rights. I cannot imagine that our world will be the same now that Paul is no longer here amongst us. I left DC assuming that stalwarts like him would keep things going honestly. Paul always signed his emails Live well... He did. He lived well. And in his memory, I shall strive to do the same. RIP, Paul. I will always humbly remember what you taught me.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Apr 2014 12:52:31 +0000