.rp64

gallery

Some of you saw my 4th of July post, Freedom is Free. If not, please glance at it first or this will make no sense. This is the follow-up. Out of the blue Tuesday evening I got a phone call it at home. It was Johns daughter, calling for several reasons. The first was to thank us, even the Dr's and nurses had commented on the rise in John's spirits after that day. The second and more somber issue was to let me know that he had been increadibly optimistic when he told me hae had less than 6 months to live. The Dr's don't think he'll make the end of September. Then she dropped the bombshell. John had asked her and her brother if they would have any objection to me leading his funeral proccesion on my bike. I was blown away. Of course I told her the honor would be all mine. After we hung up I thought about it for a while and called some of the other guys that were with me that day. Then I called his daughter back. We had thought that one bike was fine, but a hero like John deserved a full escort. They were delighted. When John does give up his valiant fight he will be led by a flying V of Harleys...but instead of the usual 5, there will be only 4...the 'missing man' formation as used by the air force in their tributes. I have no doubt that John will be with us in spirit as the 5th man. After my last post of few of you refered to us as heroes, and it made me a bit uncomfortable. None of us are heroes, just a couple of guys who want to 'pay it forward' as John so elequontly put it in the last post - or pay it back depending on how you want to look at it. The real reason I posted this, though, is to point out that while it would be great if we could do something o change the world, it doesn't take much to change someones life. In this case all it took was 50 cents worth of gas and 30 minutes of time. I'm starting to cry a little now, so I'll leave you with this thought: You may never never win a Nobel Prize or be personally responsible for achieving peace in the Middle East or ending World Hunger...but if you look around, just a little, I bet everyone of us can find a way to make someone else's life just a little better. Live. Love. Laugh. I love all of you.