I can't believe I'm doing this again.
Two weeks to the day that I got the call from my mom to tell me about Jeff's accident, I received word that my cousin Troy passed away in his sleep, on August 8th. He was 36.
It feels surreal. To have lost two cousins, so close together, so young, so tragically...It's inexplicable. It's unfair. It's the summer from hell.
Troy wasn't the life of the party - he was the party. Where he was, there was music. His guitar and his voice were at the centre of many great times in my life. Young Family Christmas Eves are legendary because of him. The Coconut Song, American Pie...those songs will never be the same again without Troy leading the sing-along.
One of the memories of Troy that I will hold dearly is the year I decided to follow in his footsteps and learn to play too. That summer, after hearing that I was trying to learn, he came to Mom & Dad's, and we all sat out in the garage one warm August evening, and he played the guitar with me for hours. He gave me tips, showed me songs that I loved that were easy to play, and teased me about having to learn more than just D-chord. In fact, he called me "D-chord" for months after - until I finally branched out and learned some new chords.
I also have great memories of Dog Bone at the Luskville ball park. For a few years, I kept score for the mixed ball league there, and he was always making people laugh, especially with the game reports he wrote on-line, which he called "The Dog Pound". Troy was an entertainer. Where he was, there was laughter.
I still can't even wrap my head around this. I can't imagine Christmas Eve without him. I can't even imagine picking up the guitar again - most of the songs I knew he either taught me, or I learned because he inspired me to. My heart aches for Aunt Brenda and Uncle Garry, Scott and Jim. As we prepare ourselves for the wake and funeral, all I can hope is that the love and support pouring out from our families, friends, and neighbours will carry us through this.
I hope Jeff's showing you the ropes up there. We'll miss you, Dog.
Troy Turner Young ~ 1973 - 2010
