Enrique Pinder, R.I.P.

Aubrey and I were deeply saddened late last week when we learned of the death of one of our friends from Chicago, Enrique Pinder. Enrique was one of the guys whom Emmaus served. He was a great guy -- happy, fun, emotional. Very much a heart-on-his-sleeve-type. He'd been coming to Emmaus for over ten years. He was an ex-hustler and drag queen who had long ago left those lifestyles behind, but who still battled emotional and physical demons from his past.

Enrique died of complications to AIDS. He'd become extremely depressed lately and had stopped taking his HIV/AIDS medications. By the time his friends figured out what was going on, his AIDS had come back in a fierce way and he was too far gone. He spent the last several weeks of his life in a coma at the hospital. He was a friend and a fellow Christian, and someone who taught me a few lessons about life while I worked at Emmaus. Aubrey and I hadn't seen him for about a year. We will miss him.