William “Wild Bill”
In the grand scheme of God’s universe the human race has not been around very long. Just a little over 10 million years they say. I liken it to a 4th of July sparkler, giving off sparks, some big and bright and some very small and of short duration. The whole time line of human history represented in the length of that sparkler. In that time some people come along and make an impression. Some not at all. But the ones that do, well they are those long bright sparks off the sparkler. And for just a short while we get to revel in their light. Then they are gone and where they were the brightest there is nothing. Or is there?
Scientists tell us that energy is never ever destroyed, just changed. So what was that bright spark that burned out into nothingness, there is something left behind. We, like the spark, only change to a different state when we die, and once again return to our origins. And where are our origins? Well look to the very universe for we are made of the very stuff stars are made of.
Light travels at 186,000 per second. It takes about one nanosecond for light to go across the width of this page. And in the scheme of the universe, a sparkler the width of this page would represent human history in its entirety. And how long does one spark off that sparkler last? The answer is “too short a time”.
Bill - - - “Wild Bill” was taken from us too soon. But his spark was brighter than most. With him we reveled in our different passions that mark our short lives, - - - for me aviation. He will be missed. His jokes, quick wit, they are gone. But he – is still with us. For that energy that was his soul has NOT been destroyed but merely changed. And we will simply follow Bill’s example - - someday.
It is poignant to me that Bill’s last maneuver was part of a big heart that he and Jimmy performed. Like Bill’s own heart it was big - near perfect in shape and in the element he loved. Some of us feel that somewhere near the top of the next loop, Bill’s spark went out. And just maybe that is the way it should have been.
Blue skies and calm winds my friend. And keep the “blue side” going round and round.
Jim “Pappy” Goolsby
