Yesterday was the celebration of life for my dear friend Bob. Ashley put together a beautiful slide show presentation of pictures of Bob over the years. The songs were carefully selected and perfect.
The slideshow ended with the song I'll See You Again by Westlife. I had never heard the song or even of the band before, but it was a perfect song. The video (with lyrics) is below...and I recommend listening to it. It is a wonderful song in memory of anyone you have loved and lost.
(note: be sure to pause the play list on the side, so that the music doesn't interfere with the video music)
Bob was a true hero, an amazing person. As one of his firefighter brothers said yesterday "maybe if he hadn't been such of a sonofabitch, someone would have showed up to this wake!" There were well over 200 people there- family, friends, and lots of people from Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue. As my mom and I got there yesterday, there were a couple of firetrucks parked out front. I knew right away that one of the trucks was "Kayci." I've talked of Kayci before...in memory of her. She was killed in a car crash in 1998. Kayci was Bob's daughter. As a tribute, from the fire department that Bob worked for, they dedicated one of the engines to Kayci.
There is a plaque inside with the dedication:
And yesterday they let the kids climb all over and in and around it as well as the other engines they brought to the wake.
[Ashely and Chris' little guy, Quinn..."Look! I'm a firefighter for a day!"]
One of the songs during the slideshow, Green Day's Time of Your Life, brought a strong reaction. It has always amazed me how much power music holds- how it can invoke such an emotional response. Time of Your Life was the theme that carried through Nick and Kayci's death. Each time I hear that song, I am transported back to a night that my classmates and I held a vigil above the lake with that song playing. I am transported back to the days after the crash that friends and I gathered pictures of Kacyi and framed them along with the lyrics of that song. I am transported back to her wake. And I know I wasn't the only one in that room who was effected in a similar way. As the opening chords to that song started, there were a few deeper breaths taken across the room, there were louder tears.
[photo of Kacyi and Bob - fall 1997 at the high school father-daughter dinner]
Rest in Peace Bob. You are loved. You're gone, but not forgotten.
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