On Saturday following Sturgis 2004, I got the call on the road that my younger Brother Tony "TOE-KNEE" had died in his sleep at my home in Iowa. Although I knew there was nothing I could do to change it, I felt that I had to be home right away. At 110 mph it took just over 4 hours. The Brother who asked me to ride his Dyna-Framed Knucklehead Power USA Stroker back for him shall remain nameless, but he was also the one who called me with the news, knowing I would finish the trip W.F.O.  He also put me on the right machine for the job. A couple new Brothers from Northern Louisiana were with me, and didn't flinch once about beating the shit outta their Twin Cams to watch me vent my rage at the throttle. When we got here, I was spent and too drained to deal with it, but they stepped right in and took care of shit while I got mine back together. Thank You Ken Paul, Crow & Patricia.

 ToeKnee, a 21 year member of the Sons Of Silence, had been battling lupus for close to 20 years, and I'd seen him near death a couple times before, but He'd spent the week with us at our property in Sturgis, and had ridden home with my band. I hadn't seen him so happy in years. He got here, told my Ol Lady Dale about the great time He'd had, went downstairs to crash, and passed in his sleep without a struggle. He'd told me a month earlier He'd give anything for one good breath, his lungs were so scarred from 7 bouts with pneumonia that the sticky Iowa summer air was like being underwater to him. Maybe the thinner, drier air in the Black Hills was finally his one good breath. Maybe being with all his Brothers for a week was that breath.

The funeral was a thing of true beauty. Friday night, after family visitation, after Mom went home, I asked a couple Brothers to go get him from the front of the town hall and wheel his casket outside onto the sidewalk, where we spent the night drinking with him and to him, shooting off bottle rockets from the top of his coffin, discussing whether a casket rack was roadworthy enough for a spin on the town, and generally freaking the shit out of a small town's small minds, then I realized why he'd gone closed coffin, he knew there'd be stupid photos otherwise, because He'd have done it for me.("Here's Dago with a cat hanging on his face...Here's Dago with a...) (Just when I think I'm all over this, my eyes tear up so badly I can't see..) That last night we spent together made the next day easy to handle, because what had started as such a tragic affair turned into a celebration of the life of our Brother and Friend. Over 600 people came and went that weekend, the 400 seat town hall was Standing Room Only and the street outside was a crush of bodies too. 137 bikes made the 3 mile ride to the cemetary, 2 miles of which is gravel. National President Terry, his wife Kayla, Me and Dale led Tony, riding on Jamie Christensen's Harley towed coffin hauler, with over a mile of Brothers, Sisters and Friends on scooters behind, and who knows how many Cars, Vans and Trucks following the bike procession. At the gravesite I saw rockers from the 4 corners of the USA and everyplace in between. I swelled with pride seeing such a showing of Love and Respect for my younger Brother. The funeral expenses were steep, some $8,500., of which we've raised about 2500 of so far. The Benefit for Tony is Saturday, December 18th, at PeeWee's Pub, 816 1^st. Avenue South, in Ft. Dodge, Iowa. If anyone out there would like to donate anything for the Auction or Raffles, it would be greatly appreciated. Or better yet, make the trip to north central Iowa and celebrate with us.

I'll close with a poem I had to write Wednesday night before the funeral before he'd let me go to sleep.....  

Losing A Light

(For Tony)

At Chamberlain on the road back home

I got the call that you were gone

I knew you’d leave me here someday

But to hear the news blew me away.

It’s a colder world you leave behind

You weren’t one in a million, you were one of a kind

 Loved by everyone you knew

I can’t believe your journey’s through.

Through all your years we shared our lives

The ups and downs on that road we ride

You were more than a blood and a club Brother man,

You were just like my son, you were my best friend.

It broke your heart when I did time

For being selfish, drunk and blind

But still you’d come to visit me

And through your eyes I learned to see.

I won’t betray what you believed.

You always showed your pride in me,

You took me everywhere you’d go

A thousand people told me so.

I close my eyes and I have to laugh

Your sense of humor was a master’s craft

You made me see I’m worth a damn

You shaped me into who I am

I could never count the lives you touched

The ones I’ve met you moved so much

I look around this room today

At all these friends and see their pain

I also know the fight you had

As you body went from good to bad

But you never let it dim your light

There’s a bright new star in the sky tonight

Your last few days were spent with those

You missed the most, you loved and chose

You came home happy and went to sleep

Something in you felt complete

You broke the lock that held you here

I’ll see you in a few more years

With two of us inside this vest

 I’ll ride for both of us I guess. 

Thank you Tony for the honor of being your Brother.

There will never be another like you.

I Love You

Goodbye for now.

                                                                              DAGO

                                                                            8-19-2004