His wife, Mary, sent me a link to his obituary. I never met Chuck, but reading the obit, I couldn't help but get the impression "now, here's a man who doesn't like to stand idle." Mary confided to me in her email that the one thing she thought best described Chuck was the song "The River" by Garth Brooks. I've never been a big country music fan, so I had to look it up (thank you again, Google). I won't quote the entire song, but this little bit jumped out at me as particularly poignant and inspirational:
Too many times we stand aside
And let the waters slip away
'Til what we put off 'til tomorrow
What has now become today.
So don't you sit upon the shoreline
And say you're satisfied.
Choose to chance the rapids
And dare to dance that tide
And I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry.
Mary's words to me were that "...Chuck's river just finally ran dry..." And you know, that will happen to each and every one of us some day. I celebrate that Chuck decided to "chance the rapids and dared to dance the tides", and didn't quit and just let the currents pass by. He is missed. And I guess that's one of the key points of living: to live fully and give enough while you're here that someone will notice when you're gone.
So I'm quite proud to take Chuck along on this year's ride to honor his life and family, and to thank them all for reminding me how important it is to get up every day, "get in the ring" and squeeze every bit out of life that we can. Hope we have good weather for you, Chuck.
