Rest in Peace KONG

It was this month back in 2008 when I got a phone call.

The number on my cell phone came up Rick "Kong" Wilkey.
I was at Sunday dinner with family so I skipped the call, figured I'd call him back once home and in the garage.
After returning home, I exliled myself to the shop to get some stuff done.
Before I could return the earlier call, I heard the phone ring again.
My girlfriend answered it, "hey Rick!"
It wasn't Rick.
It was his wife.
She said Rick had died "yesterday".
I was in shock.

On Saturday Feb 26, 2011, while I was out and about I pulled into the graveyard to visit my buddy.
Seeing the wind had scattered some flowers and a toy motorcycle that adorned his grave, I picked up a bit and rearranged the items back to their original place.
Later that night I went to see some buddy's bands at a local watering hole we used to stop in at while out riding. There I ran into his daughter who I hadn't seen since the funeral.

This date sorta crept up on me and I just thought it was a bit odd that those few things all happened in such close proximity of the annivesary of his passing. I wasn't even thinking about it being close to March when I pulled into the graveyard, it was just a whim. I also didn't expect to see his daughter later that night. Next thing I know a few days later was the day he passed.

As my girlfriend stated when I told her about all this...."he was around".
RIP buddy, you are missed.