SAD ANNIVERSARY

It has been forty years since the death of my youngest brother. He was on a camping/bicycling adventure from Sioux Falls, S.D. to the Twin Cities, where another brother still lives.

(That other brother, Mike Shoop, is a well known nature photographer, who recently electrified a Corvette. You may see his photos here.)

Ricky did not make it to his destination. The only witness was the truck driver, who had the misfortune of having to live with what happened for the rest of his life.

Why should we drive (bike, walk) safely? Not only to preserve our own lives, but so we don't have to live with such a thing on the conscience.

My poem for Ricky is in the sidebar, but I present it below in a tidier version for easier reading.

Remembering Ricky

On a lonely highway,
Early one morn,
From a young bicyclist,
His life was torn.

It was the Spring
Of sixty-nine,
And that young boy
Was a brother of mine.

As I was feeling
My terrible loss,
The way others drove
Made me feel cross.

I counseled away
My rage and tears,
Observed, while driving,
For many years.

To help make things better,
That is my plan.
As the gridlocksmith
Perhaps, I can.