Friday the 13th

It’s a strange phenomenon, this biker brotherhood.  Friday the 13th in Port Dover was a spectacle to be experienced.  There really isn’t anything to do there aside from the repeated walk through the village admiring bikes of all kinds, all sizes and makes, stock to tricked out customs that only the rare gifted mind can create.

In Dover, we are all bikers, or at least, bike enthusiasts.  Colours or not, affiliations or not, Harleys or Hondas we all get along for this special day reserved for the small port side town of 4000.  The town swells to well over 100,000 people with some estimates upwards of 250,000 people with over 15,000 bikes.  All for one day, then we go home.

While we were immersed in the sea of people, handing out free water and Barry Mayson DVD’s (former Hells Angels President turned Christian and founder of Heaven’s Saints Motorcycle Ministry), we shared laughs and stories with our own ministry brothers from Windsor, Tilbury, Harrow and Michigan.  We packed it in around 4:30 p.m. when the crowds grew smaller but the parties pick up and the shirts come off.  This definitely isn’t a family event after a certain hour.

We continued the next day in Tillsonburg with The Day After, held at the Upper Deck Youth Centre.  It was a day of socializing and relaxing.  We see each other at rides and the occasional barbecue, but often we miss the chance to get to know each other by embracing the down time.  That’s what this day was for.  And it was a good day.

We learned later that it was tragic for others.  

International Heaven’s Saints Motorcycle Ministry President Curtis Jamieson and his wife Patty were in a car accident that totaled their truck.  Other than Curtis’ pulled back, the couple is fine.  Brothers TT and Lamar were riding in Alabama on Friday when a car pulled out in front of them.  Lamar clipped the car and was injured, but is generally alright.  Tommy “TT” struck the car straight on the side and later died on Saturday of his injuries.

I know Curtis, Patty and TT.  They are brothers and sisters in the ministry and they all have a heart for God.  Curtis and Patty are two of the most enthusiastic people I have ever met.  Their love of God is contagious! 

TT was always smiling, moving around and may have needed a bit of Ritalin, but he was a joy to be with and his sense of excitement spread wherever he was.  His passing brings a loss to the Saints, especially the Phenix City, Alabama chapter, from which he was the President.  TT joins fellow Saint and founder Barry Mayson in Heaven.  We can be sure the two of them are drinking in the pure joy of the heavenly brotherhood.

Everyone has a story.  How will you be remembered?