Happy Birthday Kelly

And I sit here in the silence of the night...one little Firecracker...fast asleep...the sounds of the shepherd snoring in the distance...and I look out the window and notice the moonlight...though I don't see the moon...there is a light in the darkness...and I think of my brother...on a memorial ride perhaps.   He is riding my cousin Kelly's Harley across the great divide...It will not matter who might own the bike on paper...it will always be Kelly's bike...

Yes I think of Bob Seger often when I think of Kelly...I think of Shane...perhaps it was a day at the lake...when Kelly had provided the music and it was pretty much all Seger all day...

And I post this video and Kelly's brother Keven's wife...Angie...says:  "They got video of Shane riding away on the Harley. Was a sweet sound with sweet memories. I think Kelly would have been proud that he got the bike... Miss him madly. Ride with pride!"

I see scattered posts and pics of Kelly and think how those that may be gone...here on his birthday...and many days in between...we keep a part of them with us as we share stories...memories...motorcycle rides...I know many of us feel Kelly near today...last night coming home from Ethan's 21st Birthday...another one who Kelly was one of "those guys" that Ethan had bonded with...I am not sure...perhaps it is a different kind of blood that he and Shane and Ethan and his nephew Bret share...maybe they got some gasoline or something in theirs?  Maybe just extra adrenaline!   Anyway we had went to a place Ethan thought would be cool to go to because Kelly had done some work there...the Matador...there was one piece I thought of Kelly and I don't know if he did it...I know there is plenty there he could have done as he had such talent...but the flames make me think of him...but as we rolled down Highway 71 last night...I am flicking through stations as I drive and the shepherd rests his leg...and one little Firecracker sleeps in the back with her dog Odie...but "Bad to the Bone" plays...This song I do not hear it without thinking of Kelly Hollis...George Thorogood another who may have sang some of Kelly's life songs...anyway I look at the clock and it is no longer Ethan's birthday but Kelly's...12:35 and I think Happy Birthday Kelly...and I feel like maybe I should be driving faster!

I texted some with my brother as he was at my aunt Betty's part of the day...one text was Bret was taking them for a battery...and so it is getting later in the day so I ask if he is going tonight or tomorrow...he says tonight...so I ask...are you going to ride or haul the bike...his reply without missing a beat..."This ain't no trailer queen!"    I tell him that my voice changed even as I read it...I could hear Kelly saying it in that voice...you know you all can hear it...

I talked to Jo earlier...and she said that Shane said it wasn't cold...she said he pulled out of the yard with perhaps a little bit more acceleration than some and Aunt Betty commented he did it how Kelly would have...I'm not saying that is always a good thing...but it is a THING!   And glad Aunt Betty was surrounded with family...of those who love Kelly and love her...I still have another blog going for Kelly...but tonight isn't the night for it...but I go to find a pic to steal...and this one seems to be a good one...Kelly and his niece Michelle...I think of her connection with him...her song she wrote for him...her love for him...as so many of us have...

And my brother is hopefully nearing his home...but it will be a treasured memory to tuck away in his heart...a tribute to one of his "people" who I know he misses dearly...as so many do!   And if you listen closely...I almost think one can hear old Kelly Don...ripping it up...Happy Birthday...

lyp