Death is nothing at all.
It does not count.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
Everything remains as it was.
The old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged.
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by the old familiar name.
Speak of me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no sorrow in your tone.
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without effort
Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was.
There is unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am but waiting for you, for an interval,
somewhere very near, just around the corner.
All is well. Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost.
One brief moment and all will be as it was before.
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting, when we meet again.
An Irish Prayer for Steve Tilford
Steve on his way to winning a National Cyclo-cross Championship.Steve being Steve.Keith Richards has got nothing on Steve Tilford. Steve was cool without trying to be cool.Steve hanging with the man who built the bike that Steve used to win the NORBA National Championship, Mr. Kent Eriksen. Steve came full circle and campaigned an Eriksen mountain bike in recent years.Doing what he loved doing best.Specialized printed up rider cards for autograph seekers. I usually don’t ask for autographs, but this was Tilford!Steve, Trudi Rebsmen (Steve’s wife) and Ned Overend.Sea Otter Classic.Coors Classic. From left: Greg Demgen, Roy Knickman, Thurlow Rogers, Phil Anderson, Andy Hampsten and Team Captain, Steve Tilford.The team defended Andy Hampsten’s King of the Mountain title in the 1985 Coors Classic. Clockwise from top: Andy Hampsten, Thurlow Rogers, Roy Knickman, Steve Tilford, Don Sutton and Greg Demgen.Steve and teammate Andy Hampsten.I feel like I’ve lost a brother. Right now, the only time the world seems right is when I’m on my bike. I feel that Steve would want all of us to find solace by riding our bikes to ease the grief.Steve and I did a story where we took a lap of the first NORBA National Championship course about 20 years after he won the championship. The photo of me interviewing him was a set-up. There is no way to keep pace with Steve. Yes, that is a World Championship jersey he is wearing.
