Scott Blades, the executive director of the Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network (TIHAN), has walked in the procession for the last five years. “Doing the work I do in the HIV field, I’ve lost lots and lots of friends, but I am especially walking in the memory of my best friend and mentor. Dr. Myron Morris,” says Blades. “He’s still in my heart.” Morris was 83 when he passed away in 2008. He was a ferocious volunteer for TIHAN, caring for people, raising money and offering a hand and friendship.
“Every single day I think of him,” says Blades. “He was just the best person I’ve ever met. He had the biggest heart. He cared so deeply about people. He was a great connector of people. He volunteered, he donated, but mostly he cared so much and kept in such good contact with people in a way I strive to emulate but can’t come close to. You met him and in a half hour he would know the deepest parts of you and will have invited you to dinner … I am just blessed to be one of the people he took into the fold of his extended family and friends and let me be a part of his amazing life.”
The All Souls Procession “is such a beautiful event that celebrates those we’ve lost, and those souls still with us in spirit,” says Blades. “I like to be part of the energy of the procession and the amazing tributes and altars people bring, the beautiful costumes. It’s my favorite Tucson event.”
