Two Men...

Two men meet in a corner bar

Both on the road, now sharing a beer, telling where they are

Seems like they’ve met somewhere before

Along the road some place, but neither one is sure

Both are tall, they both like to smile

But somewhere underneath is a sadness since they were a child

They talk a while, bout life and it seems

They’ve walked so many of the same old roads, almost seems a dream

Getting late, one stands to leave

The other takes him by the arm, ‘hey, just one more.  It’s on me’

Seems like those same old roads they’ve gone

Are a little different, and the one just wants to give a word before

They both part, and in the night make their way home

It’s a little cold, rainy still, and they shake hands – then they’re gone

One eases down the street – heads in the door

Where she waits, as lovely as ever – and he kisses her and more

The other smiles, his spirit lingers still

A whisper of the past – looking through the window sill

He’s been here all along.

And now he can rest, because he knows that she’s found home…

…again.

  

7/23/13

clc

In retrospect, I see that the significance of this is greater than I even thought a month ago.  There is a bond that can be found even with those that have gone on before us.  The life that we've lived can echo, even mirror their own.  I have found this many times with Brett.  

Though we never met, I have a sense of him - an understanding of the life he lived and the struggles that he faced.  I wish he were here today to meet for real, but he did leave me a place.  A place I've come into and found the tide of pain subsiding and the life that he couldn't find for himself being hopefully healed a little.  It takes time.  I don't ever expect to replace him, but I know that the hopes he couldn't see are ones that I've fought for myself throughout my life.  So part of today, this next week, my future will be in some ways in honor of a soul that I know oh, so well.

I hope that you've found peace on the other side.  I hope that you FLY!  I hope that you see something beautiful and bright in the place you made - a place that I will spend my life honoring and protecting.

So there's my heart - to love this beautiful woman that I've found touches deep inside me in so many ways.  And to be aware that through ALL life's struggles that there are avenues of HOPE - of PEACE - of JOY!

In Honor of William Brett Shanley - 1973-2012

Chad