An Open Thank You to the Family of Peter K. Hixson

To the Family of Peter K. Hixson:

Thank you so much for sponsoring this award. It brought me great joy to call my mother and tell her that her daughter was now an award-winning poet. I also spent the last day researching Peter and his life to get a better understanding of who he was, and I found we share some things in common.

I didn’t mention this in my application, but I grew up in Upstate New York. I graduated from SUNY Buffalo, and many of my lifelong friends attended and graduated from U of R, RIT, St. John Fisher, SUNY Brockport, and Nazareth. I spent many weekends visiting Rochester, [where Peter acted as President of the Rochester Hearing & Speech Center] especially if a band named Hank & Cupcakes was playing at the Bug Jar.

One of my favorite memories of Rochester was getting in free of charge to a Red Wings game because it was the ninth inning, and then being surprised when a flashmob of Elvis impersonators took to the field for a choreography synchronized with a fireworks display. I don’t remember what year that happened. I know it was sometime between 2005 and 2009. It makes me wonder if our paths ever crossed. If we ever stopped at the same cafés or restaurants or enjoyed the annual Lilac Festival at the same time.