February 11th, Chris we visited today, sorry we couldn’t make it on your birthday. It was cold and raining which made picture taking difficult. We would have driven your TR but, as you can relate, it was in the shop. A nice young lady saw us and stopped. She was a very sweet person and remarked that the tree “looked so pretty at Christmas time.” As she was walking away she looked back and said “It is so sad.”
As always, it seems that people stop here to spend a minute or two with you and that some visit regularly. You continue to touch people’s lives.
I’m certain that you already know this but you have a namesake. Christopher Michael Rice was born January 3rd. He is a good looking young man and I’m sure he will make us all very proud.
In honor of your birthday we placed roses here as an expression of our never ending love for you. The guitar is a symbol of your music that we listen to each and every day. Yes Chris, you still rock our world. sw/2/12/2006
May 14th 2006
Well Chris, another Mother’s Day and we are here to visit with you. We brought some roses. Some of them are pink. I just know you will like them…Pink!… I put a new plaque on the stand for you, one with a better picture of you. The other one was a bit faded. Your mom sat by the plaque and listened to Beyond the Sun. She is so sad, but you already know that.
Ms Nini Galyon stopped by and talked with us for a while. She told us that she comes to visit you often and does some cleanup. That explains why the site stays so neat and clean. We learned that she is Jesse’s mom. She told us that he is doing better and that she is very proud of him. Moms are very special people.
We went to the boat and took it out on the river for a short trip. I put a new motor mount on and it seems to work well. I sure could have used your help with that job. You would have laughed at me. It brought back memories of past Mother’s Days and our spending a couple of hours on the boat with you and your mom, and time when you and I fixed things on the boat, mostly on Reflection. You were the best at taking things apart. It is so hard. I miss you so much. sw/5/14/2006
September 6th 2006
Chris, when we were here on the 6th, water completely surrounded the tree and cherub. The weather was just terrible; lots of lightening. It rained so hard that we could barely see so we left flowers in a vase, but we couldn’t get pictures. The weather reminded me of our sail up the Potomac River. The weather was much improved when we came back on the 9th to bring fresh flowers and put a new plaque on the stand. I took some good pictures which show how much the tree has grown in four years. I cannot believe it has been four years.
Your friends, Rick Wheeler and Sean Perry at aXis Magazine put a picture of you with the lyrics to Beyond the Sun in the September edition. How wonderful it was of them to do this as a tribute to you and your music. We will always owe them a debt of gratitude, and we know you would be pleased. On our way home, we went by Sam Ash to see if they had copies of aXis. We met a nice young man there who said he knew you and remembered you from the Denizens days. He told us that the September aXis had not been delivered yet, so he offered to save some copies for us, and when the magazines came in, they mailed them to us. How kind of them — another tribute to you.
Chris, we finally got the bigger sailboat that you always talked about. How much I wish you were here to help me sail this one. We are working to get it cleaned up and in shape for the renaming. As you know, tradition requires that we conduct a ceremony to remove the original name. Another ceremony is required to christen the boat under the new name. A minister friend will help us with renaming our boat “Beyond the Sun.” sw/9/12/2006
October 26th 2006
The new boat is now fully renamed “Beyond the Sun” and has a beautiful sunset on its stern. Chris, how do you like the hailing port??? We laughed a lot while I tried to get the letters on straight, and I was pretty sure that I could hear you laughing too. As you can see I was not successful but we really like it.
December 21st 2006
Chris we stopped for a visit with you and to decorate the tree while on our way north. I hope you like the decorations and the new plaque with the sunset background. It should last a long time before starting to fade.
Your mom and I took “Beyond the Sun” out yesterday for her first sail, and with your mom at the helm. You were there with us. sw/1/04/2007
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