Departures

Written by Brook Schaaf

It was Tuesday afternoon at Affiliate Summit West, near the bottom of the escalators, when I got confirmation that my father had passed. The words from my brother, Forrest, were expected, but still, I was stricken with grief.

As it happens, I was with Karen Garcia, who had just gifted me a crochet blanket for the baby girl we adopted last year, because of course Karen did.

Later, I thought of an homage and essay that Shawn Collins wrote after his own father passed, commemorating his life and musing on the stable career he picked versus the wild entrepreneurial ride Shawn chose for himself.

If you are an old-timer, you may remember some others who’ve gone from this journey onto the next: James Martell, Scott Campbell, Rexanne Mancinni, and Deb Carney from the ABestWeb days; Matt Sanborn with CJ and, for a while, my old agency; and the wacky, scheming, and entertaining Wayne Porter, who told stories of his past life as a nurse. He warned me to keep in good health before his own health failed him.

In another conversation with long-timers Dan Sweeney and George “Geo” Yuhba, it came up that Geo’s mom was also near the end and has since passed—news I share with his permission.

Karen texted me some days later and mentioned that a show was the worst place to be, but I don’t quite agree with her.

While it would have been better to be there in person, the end came sooner than expected. All in all, it wasn’t so bad to be among affiliate marketers.

In fact, I don’t know that I could have wished for better serendipity than to have been with kind-souled Karen in that moment.

That Matt Frary came shortly thereafter looking for his late meeting was also welcome.

Everything else was canceled with apologies as I headed straight to the airport to meet my mother and brother, joined the next day by my sister, making up our now both complete and incomplete immediate family of four.

To say that affiliate marketing is a family of thousands would be an exaggeration, but it’s not an exaggeration to say that being among colleagues, some very dear, drove home my appreciation for the space and the people in it.