A Testimonial...

I was wrong.

About so much...

Rowie's funeral was yesterday. He would have been pleased with the turnout. Marzy and the Bone Brother's were there. And Dazza. And Golden Shower Boy and Jazz. And Me and Hubby of course. Not to mention the hundreds of people I'd never met but who also loved his charisma. His larger than life personality. His sweet heart and Always smiling eyes.

I first met Rowie when he was sixteen. I liked him straight away but then so did Everybody who ever knew the bloke. Hubby and Rowie played football together on the weekends but they also loved to hit the piss and get stoned together; a part of the culture of Mate-ship that their entire group all shared. Drug taking and drinking were never a secret among us. It was just what we all liked to do.

Some of Us still do; but that's another story in itself...

It was no secret, either, that my Hubby was not all that interested in Me during this time. I was more of a stalker than his girlfriend. And it was during these endless pursuits of (future) Hubby that I became to know and like Rowie for the person who he was. Honest and sincere. Simple. On occasions when I was upset over Hubby's lack of interest Rowie would smile at Me- like only he could- and tell me that he wasn't worth being upset over. He told Me like it was. And I appreciated him.

He stashed his surfboard under my Parent's house for three months...

He was an excellent surfer and all rounder sportsman. He was good at everything he tried. I don't know why He gave up.

In the eulogy Timmy told us how the Ice and Ecstasy and Marijuana had made him crazy. I guess they don't mix too well with Bi-Polar Disorder.

He read out Rowie's Testimony; something that Rowie had written while he was in rehab three years ago. It was Rowie. His words. And heart. Speaking to us from beyond the grave. Telling us of his struggles with drugs and depression. It was beautifully written. It sounded so hopeful for the future.

But Rowie- We didn't know that it had gripped you so hard.

I wish I had been there at Strezlecki Lookout with you that night. I wish I had found you wandering naked near the cliff with your bible in your hand. I wish I had heard you telling the bewildered onlookers viewing the Lunar Eclipse that you were going to find Jesus. I know if you had seen a face you Knew you wouldn't have sought out His.

Because You didn't. Meet Jesus. You went straight down to the bottom of the cliff.

That's all.

And I'm angry that Someone ever told you that Heaven was waiting and that in Heaven you'd find peace.

Because at the end of it Rowie's just Gone.

Jeremy. He was only thirty three.

And that just Sucks.