Journey

Four wheels move the body,
Two wheels move the soul.~ Author unknown


On Sunday there was Memorial Ride held in honour of 'The Buccaneer' who started the ‘Think Bike Association’. I don’t know how many bikes rode, but it was amazing to look in the rear view mirror and see what looked like an endless procession of bikes paying tribute.

When we got to Zwartkops and people spoke about him, I realised the extent of the loss the biking community were enduring and my heart broke, not just for the bikers, but for his wife and children.

When my father passed away, I was asked to write his eulogy. It was hard, and between my one sister, her husband myself we got it done and she had this quote which we used :

“Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he? “

Clarence the Angel, It’s a Wonderful Life 1946.

More though, I realised the selflessness of this man and appreciate what he had achieved by starting this association. Strange really, that you never need to meet someone to see the extent and far reaches of their loss to the world.

As I sat there listening to them describe him, it felt as though they were describing my dad. Pretty much a rough diamond he was, and I missed him all over again and have been missing him ever since and if there’s a way for heaven or hell, or wherever we go when we die to deliver a message, I hope they’ll tell Nick that I love him and miss him often and that the roughness around his edges is what made him the awesome man he was and, his departure left a great big awful gaping hole in my life…

And I realised that its been almost 4 years his passing and, that time just keeps on marching on and, life just keeps on changing and throwing new challenges out and, we sometimes forget to take quiet moments to just be and think, instead we fill our time with hobbies that keep us away from our loved ones and mindless television and then you hear of someone who spends his time doing something positive and, I wonder of what use are the scrapbook pages to the world? What positive difference is it making? Of what help is watching mindless television to your neighbour? And, what on earth am I going to do to make a difference?