Hello, everyone. At long last, I break "radio silence."
First, I want to thank those of you who mailed me sympathy/condolence cards after my wife, Madie, died on March 16th following a one and one-half year terrible battle with metastatic pancreatic cancer. I will reply in writing to each of you. I have yet to open up the cards, along with dozens upon dozens of other cards that I have received from family and friends. Opening such card is like taking a tiny grief-arrow to the heart, and I just have not been able to do it yet.
Second, I want to thank those of you who attended Madie's Celebration of Life at her church on May 3rd. Again, I will write each of you a letter of appreciation. That day remains a blur for me. I cannot decide if I was the proverbial "deer in the headlights" or "drinking from a fire hydrant," or both. It meant the world to me to have you attend and come up to me at the reception, even though there was little time to talk.
Although I am back in Denver after a month on Vashon Island, I will not be attending the Gunnison rally for two reasons. The first is that my knees are shot, and I'm hoping to have the left one replaced in November and the right one early next year, depending on what the orthopedic surgeon has to say next week when I go in for the pre-op meeting. Riding any distance is just not in the cards for me now.
The second reason is that it is just very difficult for me to socialize and be in groups now as I travel down my unwanted and uncertain road of Deep Grief, a grief unlike any that I have ever known in my life. I came across a book that has been a life raft for me: "It's OK if You're Not OK," by Megan Devine, a psychotherapist who watched her partner drown in a river and who could not save him. What she writes about her experience with grieving and how people treated her has resonated with me tremendously. Nothing in her twenty years of being a social worker and a counseling psychologist prepared her for what happened to her after her partner died.
Finally, a bit of good news. The legendary Peter Sharp, who now lives in the Phoenix area, is planning on riding up to attend the rally. He has made his room reservation. He now has, for travel purposes, as I understand him, a vintage (four carburetors) 1200 Triumph Trophy, He is having work done on it and hopes to depart Friday morning. For those of you who do not know him, he was a member of the club back in the 2000s and rode a gorgeous T595. He still has the bike and has continually customized it so that it is now a beautiful show bike. It is truly a work of art. I talked with him today and he says he does not ride as fast as he did "Back in the Day" with such fast riders as Trip Miller, Keith Houghton, "Wild Bill" (I forget his last name) and Bullet Bob Linden, the guys who never let the Speed Limit or the Double Yellow Line intimidate them.
So, in closing, have a great rally and safe rides. I may see you again down the road, sometime, somewhere. With new knees! 😉
Cheers,
Dan