I was emailing back and forth the other day with Esquire and the question came up about "how long had it been since Kenny passed away?". It was a day or so past the 6 month anniversary of his passing. After talking about it for a while, I could sense we were both a little bummed with ourselves for not remembering it.
Then I received a call from Jill Ballantyne who was coming to town for a week to visit some friends and relatives. Jill and her ex Joe were some of Kenny and Heidi's closest friends back in the good old days. How many of you remember the beginnings of the Cielo Velo bike club?
I was lucky enough to hook up with Jill for a ride on Sunday and after talking about Kenny and what a terrific person he was we just had to ride up Kenny's trail, aka Romero Canyon.
On Wednesday night Jill and her 2 children came over for dinner. The Benko's were able to join us and we talked about Kenny. We all have such fond memories of him as a friend, dad, bike mechanic, music expert, and just all around good guy.
We then began to talk about how much his family must miss him. Jill actually saw his mother in law while she was here. She said Gail, shed some tears and was still very sad about Kenny being gone.
After the Benko's left, Jill, My Wife and I sat around and wondered if there was anything we could do for the Harbaugh family. I know Patagonia the B Team as well as the local cycling community has been very generous to this point.
I for one am going to keep his family in my prayers, I hope you all will do the same.
Here are some links to posts about our good friend Kenny. I just reread all of them and it was well worth it.
I guess I missed the 6 month anniversary, but hopefully this is all in good time. Enjoy the ride! Kenny always did!
3 comments:
Wheels, thanks for the good words and reminder. And now I'm reminded I need to hit this blog more often for good stuff like this. Thanks for keeping up the good work. Life got away from me for a second or week or two.
It would have been so dang fun to be with Kenny at Rogue Wave on Tuesday night (great showing by them in particular and also by Death Cab). I would have bought and delivered to him at the front of the stage every damn beer he could drink. I'm still awaiting his encore after a stellar set. Thankfully the house lights refuse to come up.
Too soon.
Esquire
Yes, it's been just over 6 months since his passing, June 12 would have been the day. Unfortunately, even having been there with Kenny during his last moments, I too forgot. Strange how you get wrapped up in the day to day and forget something so profound. (though after looking back on my calendar, I did go see Sex and the City with a bunch of girlfriends that Kenny knew - not sure if he would think that was funny or lame?!)
I never wrote any posts/comments in December, just didn't feel like it having been there. But now, the timing finally seems appropriate. He is still missed dearly in our Patagonia hallways, but time marches on. His empty desk had his photo and fresh flowers on it until very recently; it was cleared to make space for the new fabric developer that will start in July. Doesn't know if he realizes he's got big shoes to fill! Definitely won't expect the new guy to develop beautiful fabrics AND turn me on to great new music AND help the rest of the company with their bikes - Kenny was a rare breed, indeed.
And agree with you there that he would have been at the recent Rogue Wave/DCFC show, up front and center. I like to think he was there anyways with the best views of the stage.
Thanks for this 6 month posting; albeit we're all a tad late, it's still timely. It's always a good time to remember our friend.
judy
Esquire, I don't think any of us will ever ride Romero or go to a concert without a thougth or 10 about Kenny. Thanks for commenting.
Judy, I really appreciate you sharing. Your thoughts help all of us wrestle with the loss of the Wheeliemeister! I'm going to really work at making sure that the anniversary of his passing wont' pass us by.
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