Hi Chuck Billy! This weekend will mark 10 months since you crossed Rainbow Bridge. Yet on our recent trip, you showed us irrefutable signs that you’re still going on adventures with us, especially when we visited our happy place at Quoddy Head State Park in Lubec.
On that early September morning, there were a lot of emotions in the car as we drove to see the sunrise on the first day of autumn at the lighthouse. Mom’s eyes were leaking as she rehearsed in her mind the words she wanted to say to pay tribute to you there. Dad was somber too as he remembered the great hikes there with you effortlessly scrambling over the rocks, even last year at the age of 12. I was concerned that I let you down because we got a late start, and wouldn’t arrive there until after sunrise. You always were better at keeping us on schedule. Yet none of that mattered, because this is when you sent us the first sign that you were with us that day.
As usual, we had the Bon Jovi Sirius music channel on, and as we drove the final stretch to the lighthouse, what song comes on? Not a Bon Jovi song, but Thin Lizzy’s classic, “The Boys Are Back in Town!” Sorry we didn’t immediately connect that it was you being the DJ. We should have considering the well timed songs you played on our spring trip to Dog Mountain. But oh how it gave us all much needed smiles, as Mom and I sang our parody of the song, written years earlier on a visit to that lighthouse. We needed that moment of levity. “Guess who just got back today? Them goofy Goldens that had been away. Haven’t changed, got a lot to say. And yes, we’re still wild ‘n crazy!”
However, then it was back to reality. Another stop on our year long journey to say goodbye to you. This journey has taken us to special beaches, an island, a chapel, and now to a rugged headland. We paused to admire the sun reflecting off the lighthouse and the water, before following the trail to “our spot.” The spot where countless memories were made and a bazillion photos taken over our years together. Mom brought along your memorial card, with the photo in the bottom left corner of you at this very spot taken last year. She also carried your special collar, you know the lobster one that you wore on vacation adventures. Together she placed them on the rocks, with the morning light twinkling off the water in the distance. Fall was always your favorite time of year because the weather is perfect for adventures. I’m so glad we were able to be there on the Autumnal Equinox to pay tribute to you. Mom had trouble saying her poem, but she knows you heard it in her heart. Then Dad shared his favorite adventure memories with you. We sure went to a lot of amazing places together.
After paying tribute, and quietly reflecting on how special you were to each of us, we knew it was important to make new memories! Just a few short weeks earlier, I was having surgery, and being here on this beautiful morning was not a guarantee. So we continued the tradition of exploring the rocks, visiting the lighthouse, and of course taking a bazillion more photos. Ok, so I may have snuck in a nap too, while Mom and Dad ate their breakfast. We were up really early that morning, and I needed to recharge. Besides, I planned ahead, and ate my breakfast before we left our rental cabin. You did always tell me breakfast and dinner were the most important meals of the day!
Finally we knew it was time to continue on with our adventure, and leave this special place. Yet none of us were ready to go. To us this visit seemed very final. Our last stop on this journey of goodbye. We were unusually quiet as Dad loaded me into the car, and Mom took one last snapshot with her heart of this view the means so much to us. Chuck Billy, you then sent us the most absolutely perfect sign that it wasn’t the end of our journey together. “It’s just a fork along the road.” Mom turned on the radio, and the Bon Jovi song “Reunion” was cued up to the exact lyrics printed on your memorial card!
“Take pictures each step of the way
Make this the best of the rest of your days,
…And I’ll see you at the Reunion!”
Even Dad, the skeptic about signs, couldn’t deny this message was sent by you. As we drove away, we sang, cried, and smiled. “This isn’t how the story ends, my friend. It’s just a fork along the road.” Thank you, Chuck Billy for this perfectly timed message that you are still with us! That the adventures will continue, even though we are apart!
However, to further drive that point home, you sent one more message by following “Reunion,” with Bon Jovi’s “The Distance.”
“There’s a thread that runs between us pulling ‘cross this great divide
It’s only there for the believers
Don’t stop believing, don’t stop believing!
Close your eyes and see my blue skies breaking through these dark clouds
You are the light…
…I’ll never give up the fight
I’ll go the distance, I’ll go the distance!”
Just as in life, you will always go the distance to do what is best for our little family. Thank you Chuck Billy, on this 10 month anniversary of you so suddenly leaving us, for continuing to be our North Star guiding us, and our anchor in the storm. Thank you for sending those messages across the distance!
