Clay

 Clay Clarence Daniels, Jr. 

February 2, 1949 - April 16, 2025

Clay was uniquely Clay. He often made me laugh, not because of his charming wit, but because of his idiosyncrasies. He loved repetition and predictability. He was the most predictable person until he wasn’t; just when you knew what he would do or say, something totally unexpected would emerge. 

However, there was one thing about Clay that he never, ever budged on:  his love for animals. He was feeding about 20 neighborhood cats at the time of his passing. He always enjoyed babysitting Chuey for us.

My favorite memory with Clay occurred when I was helping him clean up a box of packing peanuts that had spilled all over the floor. The static had built up and they were sticking to our hands and not being cooperative. I still laugh when I replay in my head his disdain: 

"There's a special place in hell for the person who invented these." 😂

[April 16]