The man whose picture simultaneously stared into my eyes and into the distance past me has now rested. The hero pilot who steered the plane that was definitely headed for a devastating crush back to safety and laid a basis for safer flights has bid us goodbye. I celebrate his life even as I mourn his demise.

For restoring hope to the hopeless, for rekindling the dying flames of a Kenya where dreams and aspirations are possible and realizable, for a life of service well lived in service, for setting an example and being a yardstick in an impossible environment, for doing more and talking less, may Emilio Stanley Mwai Kibaki find a special place with the saints and the angels. May his soul rest in eternal peace.