I am grateful for the opportunity to speak about Victor, but I would give anything not to have to.
There are moments when I still expect the phone to ring, or a message to appear, or for Victor to have one more story to tell. It is difficult to imagine this world without him in it.
Yet despite the sadness, I am deeply grateful.
Grateful that I knew him.
Grateful that our paths crossed.
Grateful for every conversation, every laugh, every story, and every moment of friendship that we shared.
🏢 How We Met
I first met Victor when I had just become a board member. He reached out to me because he wanted to talk about the building. Not because he wanted conflict. Not because he wanted to complain. He wanted to talk about how things could be better.
That was Victor.
🧦 The White Socks
One of my favourite memories of Victor happened the very first time he came to our home.
He arrived wearing no shoes.
Just his signature white socks.
That was Victor.
At some point he told me a story about going downstairs to check his mailbox wearing those same signature white socks. An older lady from the building got into the elevator, looked down at his feet, turned up her nose, and made a passive-aggressive comment.
Victor laughed when he told the story. He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t bitter. He just found it amusing that someone could be so concerned about another person’s choice of footwear.
Over the past few weeks, I have found myself thinking about that story often.
And more than once, I have taken the garbage out wearing no shoes.
Partly because it makes me smile.
Partly because it reminds me of Victor.
And partly because it reminds me of one of the lessons he taught me.
We spend far too much time judging things that do not matter.
What someone wears.
What they look like.
Whether they fit our idea of what is normal.
Victor saw past all of that. Clearly, since I was one of his favorite people, ever.
He cared about what was in a person’s heart.
So if you happen to see me around the building wearing no shoes, don’t judge me.
I’m just remembering my sweet friend.
And if you think of Victor when you see white socks, then maybe, for a moment, he’s still walking these halls with us.
❤️ A Friend to Everyone
Victor cared deeply about this community. He believed neighbours should know one another. He believed people should be treated with kindness and dignity. He believed that even when people disagreed, they should never stop seeing the humanity in each other.
What started as a conversation about a building became a deep friendship that I will cherish for the rest of my life.
Victor was one of those rare souls who always saw the person first.
He never spoke about people as units, addresses, or problems to be solved. He spoke about them by name. He remembered their stories. He cared about what was happening in their lives.
🏘️ What Community Meant to Victor
He believed that community was not a collection of walls and hallways.
Community was people.
The truth is that the world needs more Victors.
People who are gentle.
People who are kind.
People who care.
People who try to make things better, not for themselves, but for everyone around them.
✨ A Beautiful Soul
Sometimes it feels as though the world has a habit of overlooking its gentlest souls. The people who quietly carry kindness wherever they go. The people who reach out when others pull away. The people who continue to care, even when caring is difficult.
Victor was one of those souls.
He was beautiful in the ways that matter most.
He had a beautiful smile. He had a beautiful heart.
A beautiful spirit.
A beautiful way of seeing people.
🌎 The Lesson He Leaves Behind
If there is one thing I hope we take away from his life, it is the lesson he tried to teach simply by the way he lived:
Community is not a building.
Community is not a board.
Community is not a set of rules.
Community is how we treat one another.
Victor understood that better than most. Definitely better than me.
And perhaps the greatest tribute we can offer him is to carry a little of that kindness forward. To be a little more patient. A little more compassionate. A little more willing to see the person standing in front of us.
🌈 Thank You, Victor
I will always be grateful that Victor reached out to me all those years ago.
I will always be grateful for his deep friendship.
And I will always miss him.
Victor, thank you for your kindness, your friendship, your wisdom, and your heart.
You made this world better simply by being in it.
May you finally find the peace that eluded you here.
And may we never forget the gentle giant who reminded us what community truly means.
You were too beautiful for this world.
