MEDIUM RARE Jullie Y. Daza Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022, the passing of football legend Pelé, 82, who put Brazil on the map of the world by revolutionizing the sport. Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022, the passing of retired Pope Benedict XVI, 95, nine years after he walked away from the Vatican as leader of two billion Catholics all over the world. Between the two dates, sometime between the wee hours of Dec. 29 and 30, my friend of 40 years died in his sleep. Butch Valdes, 76, pundit, beekeeper, grower of fruit trees, big brother of our seven-strong circle of nondenominational allies, you certainly chose a dramatic date for your exit. Question is, who will be at the head of the queue waiting to catch St. Peter’s attention at heaven’s gate? By the unwritten rules of celebrity, should it be Pelé, king and saint to football fans? By seniority, would it be the first pope to retire in 600 years? The German-born Ratzinger, once nicknamed Cardinal Rottweiler, authored articles, books and encyclicals, but one simple sentence caught my attention and there it will stay in my head. In answer to a question, the pope said that if people did not die, immortality would mean the depletion of earth’s natural resources. A scenario of horrors. Butch Valdes, CPA and former Education undersecretary, was not a world figure but he was a commentator who loved his country and did unusual things to prove that life was good and could be better in the Philippines, not just for the powerful. A presidential candidate in 2022, he ran briefly, with a smile and a sarcastic explanation for this experiment: to prove the validity of the Constitution’s simplest requirements for president. As such, he was eminently qualified -- and ran because he knew he wouldn’t make it. He formed a political party but didn’t brag about it (or use it to raise funds). He mentored one other candidate, who eventually parroted his mantra: Public utilities should not be in the hands of oligarchs. (That candidate did not win, either.) He admired Elon Musk who, unlike other global billionaires, believed the world was underpopulated and there was another universe waiting up there to be found. While exploring the stars, Butch, who’s taking care of your 44,000 honeybees?