Tribute to a wonderful man

I have thought a lot about this entry for the last week wondering what words to put down or what thoughts to put into words. It’s indeed difficult to understand death, but it is beyond comprehension when a person who was so full of life and who touched the hearts of so many is suddenly no longer with us.
Wilhelm died suddenly on the 16th of July. I knew Wilhelm for almost my entire time in Dhaka and he was definitely a huge part of my time there, as he was for everyone else. The first time I met Wilhelm was at the climbing club in the American School as he easily overcame the difficulty of the wall in half the time it took me to even put my climbing harness on. He was a central part of the Dhaka Hash, outrunning many of the people half his age.
My favourite memories have got to be sipping brandy on his couch surrounded by friends discussing the trials and tribulations of Dhaka, attending his amazing birthday party where the waiters wore tuxes and the wonderful boat trip he arranged in April for HC’s visit. I think my fondest memory was his insistence that he needed to return home upon arriving at my birthday party in February so that he could adorn his best punjabi.
His home was always open, his words were sincere and kind, his sense of humour was contagious and he lived life to the full.
Today is Wilhelm’s funeral which is taking place in Oslo. Many of us cannot be there in person, me included, but I wanted to pay tribute to this wonderful person whose life ended far too soon. My thoughts go out to his family today, in particular HC and Espen who shared so much time with their uncle in the last few years.
“Because I have loved life, I shall have no sorrow to die” Amelia Burr