from Deanna Lee Birkholm June 8, 2009 Beyond

Beyond...

I wish I had good news for us all, but as of today, we are still facing a mystery. As most of you know by now, we lost our Castwell to that mysterious place beyond our knowing. He left us at 4:10 pm Tuesday, May 19th on a small Bahamian island (Crooked Island). Surrounded by the azure and turquoise swirls that just take your breath away. He didn't even have an opportunity to make one cast. But even so, be assured that he dearly loved the Bahamas. Once we have the full autopsy report we hope to know more.

I keep waiting for him to come through the door, but it isn't happening. Like others who have lost their loved ones, I feel my life as I knew it is gone. FAOL will go on, some how it always seems to carry on as if it has a life of it's own. Right now, if it wasn't for Ron Tidd it would not exist at all.

I must say some things - if you have to have something awful happen in a foreign country, try and arrange for it to happen in the Bahamas. Everyone, from the nurses at the clinic on Crooked Island, the Island Adminstrator, the young police lieutenant who accompanied Castwell's body and me back to the Nassau airport, and a very special thanks to Maxine Williamson and her staff at the Ministry of Tourism in Nassau. Without fail, they went out of their way to help in every possible way, including handling the paperwork required to remove JC's 'body' from the Bahamas and get it back into the US. I won't get into a big deal, but the US Embassy seemed to think the Memorial holiday started on Thursday. Oops.

My neighbors and friends here have been wonderful, and of course our FAOL readers are very special.

My most sincere thanks to all of you for your caring and understanding. More to come when I have it.