Rich's Life

Rich Owens
August 1949 -- February 2005

This page is dedicated to my husband, my love, my best friend, my soulmate -- Rich. Rich left us on 16 February 2005. He waits for me now in the Summerlands, where we will be reunited to continue our souls' journeys together.

How to sum up a life? Rich has an old soul. He's traveled far and for many centuries.
He taught me so much. He made me laugh, he sometimes made me cry. Always and forever, he was there for me through good times and bad. He was gruff and not demonstrative in public, but he would do anything for anyone who needed help. He never made a big deal of this; it's just how he was. His caring was shown not by words or flowers, but by real life actions. He was there for me when I almost died from a brain aneurysm in 2003. He was there for my daughters throughout their teenage trials and tribulations. Despite a bitter divorce, he was always there for his beloved daughter Katie. Somehow, I know that he is still here for us.

Like his spirit guide, Owl, he could see through the darkness and find the truth of a matter -- and was never afraid to face or to speak truth, whether you wanted to hear it or not. Although he never went to college, he was still one of the most intelligent people I've ever known. He could look at something that was broken, take it apart with no directions, fix it, and reassemble it again. He mended my own broken heart, and in turn I mended his.

He used to say that we shared the same brain. It was true. We share the same spirit too. We could be a hundred miles apart and know what the other was feeling. We finished each other's sentences. We could speak paragraphs with just one look. When we lay in bed together, I couldn't tell where my body ended and his began. There were no lies between us .... it is impossible when you live inside the other person.

I knew when we first met that he had heart problems and was on, as he put it, "an accelerated agenda". But I fell in love with him and married him anyways. Was the agony of losing him prematurely worth it? Yes. I'd do it all over again in a New York minute.

He could paint and draw, play the guitar, and sing too. He loved karaoke, and country western music. Well, no one is perfect..... <G> He was a computer expert. He was the one who started creating web pages -- all self-taught -- and taught me too. If there was something he wanted to learn, he did so, and did it well... photography. Carpentry. Plumbing. Web page design. Graphic arts. Oil painting. Playing guitar, hammered dulcimer, keyboard. Gardening. He drew our beautiful deck on a piece of paper, went and bought wood, and built it.

The background song on this page was one my daughters sang at his farewell party. He
hated funerals and wanted a party instead. He got that, as a gift from not only me, but from his many friends at our local VFW who donated not only the building, but also brought food and drinks and provided the music that Rich loved so much.

His life's motto was: "Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming.... Wow!! What a ride!!" He certainly did just that. He left behind a host of friends, some of whom he'd known from childhood. We all miss him terribly, but we know that we will meet again.

Here are some pictures of my Old Goat -- the best man I've ever known. The best man I've ever loved.

Rich, I've loved you for all the countless ages that our souls have traveled together. I will love you, for ever and for always. I will walk besides you again, in whatever realm where we dwell. Merry meet, merry part, merry meet again, and again, forever without end.

*** ) O ( ***

Us on the deck / Rich with a stringer of bass

Our Wedding Day

In the woods

Sharing lunch with a little green buddy

Us on Yule, 2003

Floating in the ocean, at Anna Maria Island, 2004.

*** ) O ( ***

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die!
---
Mary Frye (1932)

*** ) O ( ***

"I Know You're Out There Somewhere"

I know you're out there somewhere
Somewhere, somewhere
I know I'll find you somehow
Somehow, somehow
And somehow I'll return again to you

The mist is lifting slowly
I can see the way ahead
And I've left behind the empty streets
That once inspired my life
And the strength of the emotion
Is like thunder in the air
'Cos the promise that we made each other
Haunts me to the end

I know you're out there somewhere
Somewhere, somewhere
I know you're out there somewhere
Somewhere you can hear my voice
I know I'll find you somehow
Somehow, somehow
I know I'll find you somehow
And somehow I'll return again to you

The secret of your beauty
And the mystery of your soul
I've been searching for in everyone I meet
And the times I've been mistaken
It's impossible to say
And the grass is growing
Underneath our feet

[Interlude:]
You see I know you're out there somewhere
O yes I know you're out there somewhere
You see I know I'll find you somehow
O yes I know I'll find you somehow

the words that I remember
From my childhood still are true
That there's none so blind
As those who will not see
And to those who lack the courage
And say it's dangerous to try
Well they just don't know
That love eternal will not be denied

Yes I know it's going to happen
I can feel you getting near
And soon we'll be returning
To the fountain of our youth
And if you wake up wondering
In the darkness I'll be there
My arms will close around you
And protect you with the truth

(The Moody Blues)

Background image created by Rich -- "Four Feathers"
Background music -- My Immortal --
Evanescence

*** ) O ( ***

My email address

Back to the Aurora Page

Rich worked for Frontier Airlines for 17 yrs.
Frontier Memorial Page.