I met Calle 8 years ago in a mountaineering class and ever since we have connected and become great friends. It was always amazing to see the energy in Calle.  I remember on a rainy day, we were doing some trail maintenance work for Washington Trail Association. Amist a lot of rain and the cold weather, we were hauling a ton of debris on mid-fork of snoqualmie river trail.

All this time, Calle was the cheerleader for the group and the 8 of us were constantly inspired by the work that Calla did and the way he inspired the rest of the group to work. That would just be a taste of what was for the days to come. I ended up climbing a fair bit in my basic mountaineering course with Calle and a few other friends. after this mountaineering course we remained as friends and it turned out we both worked for Microsoft.

Occasionally we met for lunch and exchanged notes. During this time, I realized that Calle was an amazing swing dancer as well. As I got to know him more, it was amazing to see the energy and kindred spirit he had collected around him. Soon after, I began to run with Calle in his Saturday run groups and that was one of the interesting tidbits that has stuck with me through all these years.

Every Saturday, Calle had this run at his place and a group of friends would run either or 3 or 6 mile loop. Afterwards, we would cook breakfast and in his very own quirky way, he’d give us Swedish lessons which was amazing. We also did the “Rocky” workout. That was something that fascinated me that he had such a diverse set of friends around him and inspired him to do something really awesome.

I know Calle is going through a bit of a hard time and I hope some of these stories help him realize how great of a support pillar and an exuberant inspiration he is for his friends. I am hoping that he is able to help his mom quickly and I look forward to see him running, climbing or dancing soon in the Pacific Northwest.