Those we love truly never die,
Though year by year the sad memorial wreath,
A ring and flowers, types of life and death,
Are laid upon their graves.

For death the pure life saves,
And life all pure is love; and love can reach
From heaven and earth, nobler lessons teach
Than those by mortals read.

Well blest is he who has one dear dead:
A friend he has whose face will never change --
A dear communion that will not grow strange;
The anchor of a love is death.

The blessed sweetness of a loving breath
Will reach our cheek all fresh through weary years.
For he who died long since, ah! waste not tears,
He's thine unto the end.

Thank God for one dear friend,
With face still radiant with the light of truth.
Whose love comes laden with the scent of youth,
Through twenty years of death.

John Boyle O'Reilly

I will never forget the friendship this man shared with me. He will forever be with me as he was on a sunny June day. His friendship was freely given, his caring nature easily felt. He was one of those people that you felt like you had known forever, even though just met.

Heather, you know that you have deepest condolences. One of the inspirational things that have come of all this, was watching you and how you were there for your Rick every step of the way. No one has ever had a more devoted and better partner to face this journey with.

So now it falls to us. Finding his voice in others will be easy, all we have to do is look around. Anyone who ever met him carries it.

I think I shall forever remember him at the last Getaway he and Heather attended. There he was in the blues pickup session with the players he loved playing with, the cream of the crop, players that would challenge his abilities. This is the one he was waiting for. As he is playing he notices a young woman, clearly a new player, skills not quite there ... and what does Rick do? Sits down in back and starts giving her lessons and tips on how to hit the changes.

Well done, good friend. We are all better for your coming, and sad at your going.

All the best,

Mick