It was like summer had never left with a temperature of 27.3 degrees on October 9thand as the day passed slowly into evening the balmy air wooed us to go for an evening ride on the Triumph.
I think summer was teasing or maybe October was just playing a game of masquerade but no matter who was creating the night magic we weren't about to miss it.
There was no plan, we just escaped into the night.
Riding along the Rideau River up to Merrickville was like life had passed into a dream and I joked with Stan how the night ride made me think for a moment I was riding with Micheal Knight, The Knight Rider. Earlier in the day Stan had gotten another needle in the eye so I didn't think he was up for a ride but I was wrong and we took a shot in the dark ride with one headlight and one good eye : ) Without question the ride turned out to be the best ever taken on the Triumph, for both of us! The night was filled with magic, mystery and haunting intrigue.
But all good things eventually come to an end and when I thought the ride was over when Stan turned off hwy 43 and was heading back home he completely and unexpectedly caught me off guard, slowed down, veered off the darkened Burritts Rapids' road and turned up Cemetery Hill.
He turned the engine off and in the quiet and still cemetery he asked me to pick three tombstones.The shadowy granite, almost lost in the total darkness of the quiet grounds enclosed around me making it hard to distinguish the cold stone from the dark black veil of the evening. I found myself a little scared but so elevated in my curiosity in continuing to seek and find some lovely tombs hoping they would reveal some hidden secret. The game was on, the two old folks were having fun.
Stan followed me around the graveyard ,the breeze among the branches of the encircling wood sighed but I heard nothin more but the snapping of a few pics and then he spoke: “Ok, I think this should do it. Let's go home and see what we got”
But what I discovered I noticed even before I got home , actually it was the only stone of the four I picked that I was able to read the words.
On the tall spire shaped monument the inscription read “An Officer and a Gentleman” , very strange and spooky I thought because what I read was related to the night's events. Us playing a game like two juveniles with no restraints, young again. We were the perfect age tonight to enjoy a summer's night in October hopefully will never forget. The perfect age like Richard Gere had said in a quote I read on Instagram . Oh and by the way if you don't get the connection, Richard Gere was the officer in An Officer and a Gentleman” : ) and below is his quote........
“I am old but I am forever young at heart.We are always the same age inside. Know that you are the perfect age. Each year is special and precious, you can only live it once. Do not regret growing older, it's a privilege denied to many!”
I know this story really sounds made up but I never set foot in that cemetery before October,9th/2018.
Wow, should I dare say someone from beyond reached out and left this for me to ponder on?
“The lovers have grown old and grey” forever young at heart remain❤️
Well, taking that ride with Knight Rider on an October summer night was a thrill; I forgot just how old I was!
Happy to be here with you Stan!
