David (Dave) Soda
January 8, 1951 - November 20, 2007



When we were kids we marveled at the year 2000
It seemed so far away
And we would look to the sky from that special bench at the beach,
You marveling at all the life that must be out there.
Thank you for my first roses,
My first ride on a motorcycle to the mountains,
(Where we found it certainly had gotten a lot colder
Than down at sea level,I thought we'd freeze to death!)
(I love that memory)
For teaching me how to play pool
And all the wonderful days at the ocean.
Thanks for being there when I really needed help,
And you did not have to care,
Yet traveled a thousand miles to lend that needed hand.
Thanks for so many wonderful memories
And for enriching my life here.
Our first wedding was with each other too,
So young we were destined to part.
We were so young and innocent.
Do you remember how I was thrilled
About my new job because my boss wanted to know
If we liked to swing?
And we had just been to the park the night before
And had felt like children
Swinging in the evening air in the playground...
I really ran out of that office quickly on my first day didn't I?
No, we were way too young to remain wed,
But I am so glad we were, and are, friends in the end.

I had no plans to speak again, after all I am long married
But your mother came to me, in spirit, some years ago
(At the time, I did not know that she had yet left our earth)
Insisting for days that I write to you and always with the intent
That you should know the beauty of your own being
That you should know you are deeply loved.
I thought it was so that your busy life would be fuller somehow
But I wonder now if it was to help with your passing.
Remembering our own Light is not a trivial thing after all.
I see now what a gift she gave me too,
That I might open a part of my heart long left locked away.

On the 11th, when your heart failed you,
I had been sitting at my keyboard
Happily home from a ride in the park
And about to enjoy making music.
I began to feel so low and remained so.
I could not write. I could not ride.
I could not function except at surface level
Until finally, two days ago,
They broke into your computer and could tell me.
My mind told me you were busy after all the fires,
But my being knew, obviously,
And I have not felt like singing.
Something inside has been aching so much
And I have felt such a fatigue.
Ed had begun to wonder and worry
About the depression that had befallen me.

So, I see once again that we are all connected -
It matters not the time nor miles -
It is so often evidenced to me this way.
(Like how I woke up sobbing the day my Dad had his heart attack,
And I didn't know why,
But I knew I could not go to my dentist appointment,
And I called them thinking I would say,
"I can't come, I am crying and I don't know why"
But instead I said,
"I can't come in, my Dad had a heart attack".
Then I was taken aback at my own words!
I would not say such a thing, nor lie about such a thing
And especially not about my father
Who taught me the importance of honesty.
And then my beautiful Mother calling, not five minutes later,
To tell me,
"Dad had a heart attack").

You took some days for the body to give up,
But YOU had already taken flight that day
When sorrow overtook me.

And here I am, one who has spoken often with spirits and seen the glowy light so often around them. I who write songs of "going home" and the joy of our eternal natures.
I am here with tears that won't stop falling, though they will I know, in time. How, I wonder, do people who have not seen such evidence stand it here at all? Even knowing so surely that life goes on, and better so, I am so terribly saddened to see you go.

Ed says we all think we know how long we want to stay here, but our inner soul knows better when our work here is done. And I think about the old saying:

"When a baby is born, everyone is smiling and the baby is crying. When a person dies, everyone is crying and the person is smiling."

I am told, that when you gave up the fight a smile came upon your lips that made your leaving a bit easier for them to accept.

I know you will hug your Mom and Dad for me, and your sis is planning to visit us here, so I will hug her for you, though I know you are with her still.

One thing I have noticed over and over again with people's passing: I always miss that thing about them that drove me mad. How you and I would spar on issues - I taking things so seriously, your winking tease -how maddening that was! I miss that a lot.

As you were greeted by loving arms when you came here, I know you were greeted by loving arms at your return.

Today, I could not go to your funeral. So, I just wanted to light a candle for you this day and say thank you so much for being you, for enriching my life and for being a real friend.