Dear Alan,
We will all miss your intelligence, worldliness, ability to convey a complex situation with a simple phrase, your affable style, your quiet leadership style, your people skills, creativity, but mostly, your capacity to see both the forest and the many trees in everything you come to contemplate.
I will miss your generosity with your time and our long conversations. You were always available and happy to talk to me and show me how to make lemonade out of any lemons.
We know that as you move on to the next big journey, you will conquer even more exotic places and visit more forbidden cities, forgotten locales and far away landscapes. I will make sure to stay in touch so I can hear about them with your usual enthusiasm and colorful descriptive skills.
I am sure you will stay active and stay engaged, stay relevant and stay present for many many more years whether in retirement or pursuing new endeavours.