A letter from a friend he met on the Annapurna circuit

Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 14:22:24 -0500
Subject: Gabriel
From: willmcaleese
To: ninabuchmann; fbuchmann

Dear Nina and Fatima

I have just recieved your email via Joao Tajara. Firstly I would like you to know how concerned we were when we first heard of Gabriels disappearance and of course how hurt we were when we learned of his death.

We met Gabriel in Nepal whilst trekking in Nepal on the Annapurna circuit and pretty much saw each other eveyday until we finally got over the pass of 5416m. He loved the whole thing and was completely in his element. I remember when were coming down the other side, he was running down like a big kid because he loved the snow so much. Gabriel was always pushing that little harder to go that bit higher or finish that little quicker.

Me, my girlfreind Tamar and her sister Rotem spent nights talking together and reliving the days trekking and mulling over life in general. We were so looking forward to him coming to England aswell.

We will miss the charasmatic Gabriel Buchmann. God bless

We are so sorry for your loss

William Mcaleese

LETTER FROM A FRIEND GABRIEL MET 11 YEARS AGO

Re: On behalf of Gabriel Buchmann IMPORTANT
From: gunisfjunis@webaid.se
To: ninabuchmann@hotmail.com

Hello Nina and Fatima,

Thank you for your letter and for the tragic news about Gabriel. I am so
sorry for your loss! I am so sorry that Gabriel is no longer with you,
with us and with the world. Its difficult to express my feelings since
english is not my mother tongue.

My name is Gunilla, I live in Sweden.
I met Gabriel at Kibbutz Gaaton about 11 years ago.
I remember the first time I saw him coming into the room where we all volunteers had our meals.
I saw at once that he was a kind and interesting person and so he turned out to be.
What is written in the blog about Gabriel, that he was paying full attention is so true.
Sometimes I almost felt it scary in a way, getting all that attention. I have never met anyone being more entire.
I was quite lonely at the kibbutz, but then came Gabriel and I had a true friend. I remember that when he left the kibbutz he had a book and he wanted people to write in it. I think I only wrote something like this: "a friend is someone who knows everything about you and still likes you".
I remember Gabriel asked if I was not going to write anything more but for me that said everything I felt.
He was something extra, something that could not be written down even in a novel.

Last june, 2008, I was about to meet Gabriel in Germany and also meet another girl that we met on the kibbutz. But personal things in my life made me cancell that trip and I feel sad and guilty now for not gooing.
I do wish it was possible to be able to turn back time. I guess I thought I will meet him another time in the future when I feel better. But from this I can maybe learn that there is only now and the future is something we never know anything about.
I will try to live more in the present. Just like Gabriel.
Even though me and Gabriel havent had a lot of contact during these years I have
a big sadness in me when I think of his death.
I understand what an amazing guy he was for his nearest but also for everyone he met and for the world.
In Sweden we have a say that "the one god loves the most he>takes first".
Maybe it was like this with Gabriel.
I will finish this letter now. My thoughts is with you .

Lots of love

Gunilla Ottersten

Letter from a friend Gabriel met in Nepal

Hello

My name is Tamar and my boyfriend and sister met Gabriel in Nepal, doing the Annapurna trek.

I would firslty like to give you my sincerest condolenses for the loss of your brother. Words cannot express how truley sorry i am for his loss. We found him to be a very generous, entertaining and gentle person who made our time on the trek a lot more enjoyable.

We all remember the day we climbed the high pass 5416m. Gabriel started later then us and it had been snowing all night. We were already down most of the way and when we looked up there was Gabriel sliding and jumping through the snow like a child, he was so excited. He flew past us and went flying over a stone falling in the snow, he got up laughing face covered in snow and carried on running to catch up with Joao. We could not stop laughing he was so excited like a child and he had his big coat on with the brasil hat, he was so happy. Later that day we met up with him and Joao for dinner and Gabriel expresed what a fantastic day he had had and how he had never seen snow like that before.

I know this year he made many friends, which i hope we were included in that. He made our experience more enjoyable and memorable and i know he was having the best time of his life.

It is a real tragedy that he is not still with us, but please take comfort in the fact that while travelling he was truelly adored and loved and we will definitly remember him always. when we get home if we have any pictures of him from our trek we would like to forward them to you if that is ok.

Yours Sincerely

Tamar, Rotem and Will x