Hi to all,
If, on Sept 15th, you had told me all that I have learned and experienced would "come to pass" and that 3 Tuesdays later (today) I'd be writing of it all here now, I'd not have believed you. First and foremost, Donald's family were all overflowing with love and gratitude at the response of the motorcycling community. This larger community coalesced here at the ST owner's site and a disparate group showed the generosity of the larger whole. The family was blown away by it all. I was the recipient of their gratitude and love simply because I was there. It is my honor and my privilege to have soaked up all that love and all their heartfelt "thanks" to bring them back here to disperse to this community.
A bit of history here, Donald's older sister is Lee; she and her daughter were there, and though far away from the search, they were overwhelmed by us. Donald's little sister Lynne worshipped her big brother as my little sis Martha worships me; we connected on that level and she overwhelmed me with her beautiful presence. Lynne (greymast) is married to David Grossman (Smithee), and they have 2 bright and beautiful daughters Chelsea and Erica. If you haven't read what Lynne has posted about Donald, I'd urge you to do so. Donald was married to Nan first and they had Noah, now in his early 30's and working in London for a year or so. Noah was in MT and ID for the search and they were both part of the creation of Donald's service. Donald subsequently married Caroline (caroline) (read her posts if you can) whose son Justin, now a film-maker in Denver, was in MT and ID for the search. Caroline's daughter, Ashley, lives in Colorado and is the new mom of the beautiful Emily {I'm sorry , her name is Ella, not Emily} (The grand-daughter Donald was returning to see for the first time).The three of them were part of the creation of the service, as well. I had not realized the effect all who responded had on this part of the family; Ella was born in the last half of August. Ashley and her husband John (?)( I'm sorry, I'm not certain of his name; he's one of those quiet, behind the scenes guys who simply step in to read his wife's words at the service when she is too grief stricken to speak them.) couldn't search because of their new baby. You have no idea what a gift it was to them to know that we had taken their place in the search. Donald's gratitude to us for relieving a tiny bit of the helplessness that they were feeling would fill paragraphs of beautiful words.
The service, itself, was focussed on the recovery community. Donald Masters brought so very much of what he discovered through his own struggles to them. His reach was great, and his gifts to that community many. I strongly urge any of us who struggle with demons that wake us in the night with thoughts of things we wish we had done differently, to learn more of this man and his work.
My wife, Loanne, and I spent Saturday going to the service, and she flew on to the east coast to help out her dad Sunday AM. Sunday and Monday I spent with Donald's family. They welcomed me into their family, and by extension all of us. I've mentioned in a previous post the regret I've carried for being unable to "be there" for my Viet Nam Vet brother-in-law Jerry. Being a part of the search, service, and following family time has been a huge gift to me from Donald Masters. I feel that to some small degree I've been able to make up for some fraction of the unkindness that greeted returning men and women who had served their country and returned from "Nam." I got to be a representative of Donald's, Jerry's, and my generation in wrapping our loving arms around the younger folks to reassure them that in the end, we are all one. I was given a gift of a book of Donald's, The Spirituality of Imperfection. A guy who buys that title is a guy from whom I can learn more. The family gave back to us; they fed us (It was tough, but I tried to eat for us all!) they gave me the most comfortable bed (Thank you Justin!!) and over and over they told me how much my (our) outpouring meant to them. Folks of the family of motorcyclists, we have been well appreciated.
I must mention one thing here. Loanne could speak more clearly of this, but she can't right now, so I'll try. From my own experience and from talking to Raven, and from this morning reading Larry's reference to "momma", I know that those of us who were fortunate enough to be a part of all that transpired after Donald's accident all had someone back home supporting what we were doing. I simply would not have been able to go to ID and MT to look for a missing man I'd not met if I had not had Loanne here making it possible. That's true for Raven; we talked briefly about it. I suspect that it's true, too, for Larry and most all of us. So, to all those support folks, who like Ashley's wonderful husband, just step up to the plate and make it possible or just do it: "Thank you so very much... You gave a gift of unimaginable magnitude to the Masters family."
Donald, you have touched so very many lives; I stand in awe of two characteristics of yours we so often see as mutually exclusive. In your, too brief, life you have given me an example of the two main words in the title of the book you bought, and that I now hold. You, I and untold numbers of others, perhaps all humankind, encompass these two things. We are all part of "all that is," thus all are one. We all incarnate "imperfection," and thus all are one. I thank you and salute you, sir. May you rest in peace.
In love and gratitude,
Roderick House
P.S.
I graduated from Carrollton High School; that's the Carrollton Joe Norris is from. I'm looking forward to meeting Joe. It was Joe who first welcomed me to this site, and I suspect that without Joe, none of this would have happened. People at the service kept referring to "Joe" and it took me a few minutes to realize all he has done. Joe, the family really appreciated all you did; me too!
