...Before I retired I worked in Real Estate. I used to have this ritual in the morning where I would go to my favorite bagel place and get a bagel and coffee and a Philadelphia Inquirer...then Id go to the office and sit at my desk and read the paper while I had my coffee. Like most here Im sure, I was always drawn to the motorcycle accidents I saw in the paper. This one October morning I was reading the paper when I saw this article about an accident and the rider was killed. I always feel a tinge of sadness when I read these, but I feeel its my duty. It didnt dawn on me at first as I was reading it....Robert Brown...age 42...killed on his BMW..... I sat there a long moment as it sank in.....BMW ?. ....it couldnt be. 


We always called him Bobby or Brownie....I belonged to a gym back then and was hooked on racquet ball. I would go up every night and walk the courts looking to hook up with friends or just a walk on game....thats where I met Brownie. We played with a group of people and every thursday we,d go to a bar called The Jughandle and hang out down stairs munching hot wngs and playing pool...and of course talking to the ladies. 


I read the rest of the article. ...it was Friday night...witnesses at a gas station said he was sitting at red light with this blue car beside him. Light turned green and the car screeched tires and suddenly cut Brownie off and sent him into a telephone Pole on his bike. He hit and ejected off the bike and hit the pole head first....broke his neck...and he was gone.....The car sped off. The witnesses said it was intentional....and the police put out an APB on the car. For days I couldnt believe it....I was in denial....but things would only get worse. It seems when the Toxicolgy Report came back, it said Brownie had a few beers in his system. Well...thats all the cops had to hear...they labeled it a DUI.......case closed. 


Like I said...we were friends...we used to ride to the bar together and play pool while hitting on the girls. Once I had to go to the bathroom ...but the tiny one toilet mens room was taken.  Bobby talked me into going into the Ladies Room, even though I didnt want to. It was tiny also...one toilet...and when I walked in I realized that someone had gone all over the seat. I did my business and as I was walking out an attractive brunette was walking in...I held the door for her and she smiled at me. A few minutes later the door opened and she reappeared...I was standing there by the pool table and she glared at me and said loudly....You Pig ! ....Well...Bobby broke up laughing...as I tried to explain that it wasnt me that was so rude in there.
It was a great night....we laughed about that one for months.


I never did like going to Funerals....especially viewings....Im of the mind that Id rather remember someone I knew...as they were in life...laughing....enjoying themselves.....not stiff and cold. Some people look like their sleeping as they lay there....not Bobby....he looked dead. It was a small room...his casket was laid out right in the middle. Off in a corner was a tiny woman I had never met...quietly crying. I forced myself to walk up to the casket and look down at him....he was pale...his face was the face of death...his neck....his neck was contorted in some freakish way....testament to the violence that had been visited upon him. I always got through these things relatively unscathed....you see, I had learned long ago to turn my feelings off. But as I gazed down at him and then over to the frail old woman in the corner crying....I knew she was his mother....and I suddenly felt faint. I turned...and quickly made my way outside for some fresh air.


I ventured to that telephone pole many times after that. It had quickly turned into a Memorial of sorts....a picture of him when he was a boy had been stapled to it...flowers....trinkets...a few toy motorcycles. I went there for five years after that....paying my respects to a lost friend. Someone who by all rights ....should be alive today. Id kneel down and say a small prayer....people sitting at the light in their cars....staring at me like I was some kind of freak....I didnt care. Last time I was there the picture was torn and tattered, the image all but faded away....testament to the long winters and hot summers it had endured over the previous five years. All the trinkets and things were all gone. That tattered picture was all that was left of my friend.


And so it is with much respect...and a few tears that I remember you once again at this time of year my friend. They murdered you Bobby ...and left you like a dog in the gutter. The police turned their backs and forgot about you....your mom moved back to Germany ....broken hearted.....her only child gone. But Ive not forgotten you my friend....and the bastards that murdered you....will one day be laid low.


....Rest in Peace my friend

Thanks for sharing your story and remember that those involved in your friends death will be judged and his sentences last an eternity.

Sorry for your loss Wolf but I think God will sort that out some day and your friend Brownie will be there on his BMW to see the action and wave by by to the scumbag. Webby

Sir your story brought me to tears myself, and like wheels stated the cowards that killed your friend will one day stand before the all mighty, and your friend shall have his moment as he himself will be standing there as well.
Dragon

So sorry for your loss brother it is so tragic when a friend dies and the ones responsible will.have to be judged one day. To the police that investigated this crash they also have to live with it if they cut corners in a crash. I an a cop and I teach cops how to investigate crashes u dont stop when you get a toxi report back you stop when the you find out what happened

I been biking now 30 years, and over that time I have lost 11 friends and another few I knew personally, some were wiped out like your buddy and some thru their own fault. I've gone to that dark room where you are Wolf and wondered why...but like others here have said, let someone else do the judging and let your buddy's life light up the room.

When I lose somebody, especially someone in the fullness of life or someone who exhausted the possibilities of this life,  this makes me feel at least a tad better

 . .....thanks everyone for your thoughts.....Brownie died 15 years ago this October. ....but I still feel the need all these years later....to pay tribute to him. .....you see....he,ll always live on in my memories... .

RIP Bobby...
I was at (another) funeral for a Brother (IBEW) a few years back. An old wireman friend told me "Edge, the longer you live, the more friends you will bury." He was right but it don't make it any easier. You do your friend a great service by remembering him and sharing his memory with others.
Respectfully,
Edge

My prayers n respects to you brother biker...I know it's allready been said but well? What goes around, comes around so while the trash
that killed your bro. is still living n breathing on this earth Karma will continuly work against him and when he cashes in his chips God will get the final judgement.
Ride Strong...RandyJoe...Ice Bear...