Thanks guys, I'm fine. Back around Father's Day, I lost a good friend I'd known and raced with for 30 years. Last weekend, I raced at one of our local tracks for the first time since he died, and of course, without him for the first time. I took a little time to reflect, and as I did, another friend, Jimmy, came over to talk. We talked a minute and he asked what I had on my mind. So I told him, "this weekend is the first time I've raced here without Ronnie". And he looked at me and said, "No, Ronnie is here, he's all around us," and he pointed to my chest and said "and he's there, too." Sunday night, an idiot pulled out in front of my friend, 3 miles from his home, on his Harley, and my friend died in the helicopter on the way to the hospital. Last night, at the visitation, as we stood around, someone said "I can't believe he's gone". Then it dawned on me, Jimmy was right. I looked around the group and I said,"No, Bubba is not gone, he's here with us, he brought us all together, for the first time in years." And I pointed to everyone's chest, and said, "and he's there too, in our hearts, because he meant that much to us, and we meant that much to him."
So tonight, I raised a beer, and toasted my brother. And soon, I'll stop shedding these selfish tears, and smile like Bubba always made me smile. And I'm going to finish my bike, so we can start an annual toy ride in his memory, he never had kids, but he loved mine like they were his.
