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Glen... |
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went to Glen Keeleys memorial service a while back. Really sad deal. You see
the pain family and friends are experiencing and you remember how it tears
your guts out – and you feel so helpless. There is nothing you can say or
do to make them feel better. And,
having experienced it, you know that they will never feel a whole lot
better. The sorrow never really goes away. You learn to live with it, but it
is there in every quiet moment. There before you drop off to sleep – still
there soon after you wake up. Sleep
becomes the enemy because if you sleep you might dream. You might dream
about the person and they are right there and everything is great… then
you wake up. You’re happy… and then reality sets in and the pain and
sorrow are almost as bad as it was right after it happened. But
in regards to funerals and memorial services, all a person can do is be
present… to show people how much that person meant to you, too. That he
did make a difference in your life. That his life, though cut short,
accomplished a lot. I
don’t know how many people were at the service, but it had to be a
thousand or more. Lots of Americans who had dropped everything and either
caught an expensive flight or drove two days straight through… just to pay
their respects to Glen’s family and friends. And
then there were the Canadians. While they often feud and fight over really
trivial stuff, in times like this they show how solid they really are. They
are a big family. They watch little kids start on calves, move up to steers,
and graduate to bulls. Then they see those people start families and do the
same thing. They
have a great emotional investment in all their cowboys. They’ve watched
them grow up and they get to see them compete as professionals a lot more
than we do. Our rodeos are scattered all over the place. One
of the things I remember most about going down the road are the times I
spent in the care of other guy’s families. They took me in like one of
their own. There are some great rodeo families. Generation after generation
who have given their sons and daughters to rodeo. The
thing I respect most about Canadians is that their families are even closer
knit. I have been around a few Canadian families – the
Claypools…. the
Johansens… the
Daines… All
were super families. And the Keeleys were super-super close. The
second thing I admire is that Canadians are proud to be Canadian. It takes
some of them a while to realize it, but eventually they all do. The
third thing I admire is that Canadians are proud to be cowboys. They are the
strong fabric that rodeo is held together by. Listening
to the speakers at the memorial service, I learned a lot about the personal
side of Glen. Stuff I never knew. Being around guys at rodeos, you only get
to see part of that person. But, over time, if you watch closely enough, you
can sometimes tell a lot about their families just by the way they approach
a very dangerous profession. You
can tell those who grew up with love and in a good morals and values
environment. Those with right
and wrong and integrity bred into them. Those with a great sense of family. Glen
was special in all those regards. It seemed to me that, although he loved
bull riding and gave it 100% every time he nodded, family came first with
him. The
first time I saw Glen Keeley ride was at Denver and he spurred a wild, waspy
sucker. I mean – he went at him. He answered every move that bull made. He
wasn’t just hanging on hoping for the best. He
reminded me of another bull rider from up in that country I’d seen ride at
Denver a couple of times when I was in junior high school. John Dodds. Rode
great…. And like Glen, if he was riding good, he was spurring. The
last time I saw Glen ride – was on a PBR telecast. A barrel racer friend
of my wife called an told her to hurry and turn on TNN – that there was a
heck of a bull riding going on. The
image I will always have of Glen is the camera close-up of his face when he
got off that bull. Relief. Happiness. Pride. Satisfaction. Probably
a mix of all four. It brought tears to my eyes because I was so happy for
him. I knew how much he loved to ride bulls. For him to be riding at his age
at that level of the sport and excelling – well, that was a wonderful
thing to see. I
never saw Glen Keeley not ante. Not once. Not ever. That is the greatest
compliment you can pay a bull rider…. The greatest compliment you can pay
a man or woman. My
wife has a good understanding of God and religion. I’m a slow learner, I
guess. I’ve
come to believe there are no ACCIDENTS. It seems to me that there must be a
script somewhere beyond human comprehension. I
wonder if before a person is born if their soul has any say as to what life
they will have. If that were true, and GOD had laid it all out in front of
Glen…. “Here’s
the deal… you are going to live here… these people are going to be your
family… these people are going to be your friends… you are going to love
these people… you are going to be loved by these people… you are going
to achieve these things… you are going to experience these hardships…
and when you are thirty you’re going to die doing what you love. Take it
or leave it.” I’d
have to think that guys like Glen would take that deal. To live where he
did, have the family that he had, have the friends he had, love like he did
and be loved like he was, touch so many lives in a positive way like he did…
and then get to ride bulls and be good at it… it would be worth it. And
if there is any consolation for his parents it would be that they enjoyed
this wonderful person for thirty years. He was a good son, a good grandson,
a good brother, a good brother-in-law, a good uncle, and a good friend. He
brought lots of happiness into the lives of others. I doubt if a parent
could make that same deal with GOD, though. The pain is just too great. I
can’t comprehend the depth of that sorrow. For
the rest of the bull riders if there is a lesson to be learned from this
tragedy it would be that how you look… how you conduct yourself… how you
compete… how you relate to and treat other people… is important. Living
your life with character and integrity is more important than anything.
Whether you ever win a dime means very little in the overall scheme of
things. One
person CAN make a difference. A quiet, introspective young man, Glen
Keeley touched many lives from little kids to grandparents. By the example
he set, he made their lives better. Glen Keeley made a difference. You
can too. I
still get a lump in my throat when I hear the Garth Brooks song “The Dance”.
It makes me remember Lane Frost being in that video. Then I recall the
expressions on the faces of his best friends who were there when he went
down and never got up. Lane always got up. At
his funeral, I witnessed the pain his family, friends, and fans experienced.
It was the same pain I saw the other day at a small community center
somewhere in the hills south of Calgary. That never changes. Glen and Lane were alike in a lot of ways. I don't think either would have missed... “The
Dance”.
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