Track 4—From When We Were Young (2011)    

Old Friend   

Al Dunkleman, Heartfelt Americana Music/ASCAP

In memory of Kay Chitty and Trisha Hamm

 

I never did say “Goodbye”

To you old friend

I never dreamed that your life

So soon would end

And even though you are gone

My love I still send

But I never, never said “Good bye”

Old friend

 

The thought of you will always stay

Locked in my mind

I’ll remember you and your smile

So pure and kind

And this pain will fade away

Your memory will never end

But I never, never said “Goodbye”

Old friend

 

I’ll see you once again

Over on yonder shore

Where sadness, death and decay

Will be no more

And I can hear your sweet voice

Singin’ with the angel band

But I never, never said “Goodbye”

Old friend

 

And I can hear your sweet voice

Singin’ with the angel band

Where we’ll never, never say “Goodbye”

Old friend

Where we’ll never, never say “Goodbye”

Old friend

 

Kay and Trisha

 

Each year I look forward to New Year’s Day. I like to begin each year with great optimism and goal setting. On January 1, 2007, my optimism and goals suddenly became insignificant when I opened the morning newspaper and read the headline “Local Family Dies In Plane Crash.” As I read further I was stunned to learn that a colleague and friend of mine, Kay Chitty, along with her husband and two sons had all perished as their small plane crashed in the Charlotte area as they were returning to Shelby, NC, after vacationing at the coast.

 

I had last spoken with Kay before the Christmas break. We had talked about our children and Kay mentioned that we needed to get my son and her daughter together since they both enjoyed sports so much. Kay’s daughter was attending a Christian athletics conference in Greensboro as the family flew back from Cape Hatteras. Kay, a math instructor at Cleveland Community College, was one of the finest, sweetest, Christian ladies you’d ever meet.

A few days after Christmas in 2006, my wife and I received an encouraging email from a friend in Wilmington, NC. Our friend Trisha Hamm had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and had been receiving treatment for about a year. She shared how much she had enjoyed listening to my first CD and that when she was feeling better that she hoped to be able to stop by and visit with us on a future trip to the mountains.

 

About three weeks after receiving her email, Trisha lost her cancer battle. Trisha Hamm had a delightful Christian spirit and was one of the most creative, positive and encouraging people I’ve ever known.

   

As a way of grieving the loss of these two special friends, who were both taken well before their time, I turned to my guitar and pen. I had previously created a finger-picking melody and had attempted for a month or so to come up with lyrics. The words eventually flowed and I finished the last verse as my wife and I traveled to Wilmington for Trisha’s funeral.

 

And I can hear your sweet voice

Singin’ with the angel band

Where we’ll never, never say “Goodbye”

Old friend