The definition of the word swoops is as follows: “To move in a sudden sweep.” Swoops was also the name of a curvy aerodynamic UFO-shaped chocolate candy from Reese’s, of peanut-butter cup fame. But to me, “Swoops” is the coolest nickname I’ve ever known anyone to have, and it was given to one of the best people I’ve been lucky enough to know.

Marcus was and always will be “Swoops” to me. I don’t remember who gifted him the nickname, but it was instantly apparent to his friends that it was absolutely perfect. To swoop is to be dynamic. To swoop implies sometimes coming out of nowhere, bringing surprise and a burst of energy. To swoop means to come down from the air and meet the earth. Marcus was all of those things.

Marcus was Swoops long before the Reese’s treat came out, and I remember stopping in the candy aisle at Safeway, totally gobsmacked, looking at a whole shelf of Swoops. I had to buy a bag, as I knew I’d see Marcus later that evening. I walked into the room, bag held high, and said “Look, here’s the real Swoops!”

He took the bag from me, looked at it, bounced it in his hand, looked at me very seriously, and said “But I won’t ever get soft in your mouth!” Now that is Swoops, the best off-the-cuff hilarious/serious mystic I’ll ever meet.

Reese’s Swoops are gone from the shelves, have been for years. Our own Swoops has left the building, and we miss him terribly. But he’s still out there, swooping in our minds and memories, sparkling and nudging us a little, making us rise on our toes to catch sight of him as he swoops away, on to bring the air to meet the earth again, in better place.