I only got to meet Bill one time in person. And for that I'm thankful. I work nights and iow has been a huge help keeping up with what is going on while I'm at work. For that I say thank you Bill. But more important to me is a story I would like to tell. Less than three weeks before the checkered fell on Bill's race on earth he was still giving. I was helping with a cancer benefit at tss. Bill was the first to offer to help. And for that I say THANK YOU. RIP BILL.
As I read this yesterday the hair on my arms stood up as they are right now, Eyes watery. We never want to loose a loved one & know that it is inevitable. When it finally comes we still are not prepared. I never met Bill as many on IOW has said & feel I missed out.
I was at a loss for words yesterday & sometimes don't say & or write anything for fear of saying the wrong thing.
To Bill's Family & Friends I send my Condolences.
On a final note my Dad would have turned 81 today. I miss & love him.
Like many who have posted about his passing I never met Bill. Recently I started a thread asking "your favorite memory or moment from Indiana Sprint Week". Bill's response was insightful, something like all his favorite memories of ISW involved people. Those of you who knew him have been proving how true this was for him.
This sight has been the source of much enjoyment for me. A small thing but such is the stuff of life. Thanks Bill for your contributions to the racing community. Prayers of peace to the family.
Bill Gardner may have lived 42 years, but he lived more life than than most people that live to be twice that age. He battled cancer for 21 years! Half of his life. Imagine that! And no matter what this terrible disease may have been doing to him at any given time, he was always the same guy. He was funny, with a slight twisted sense of humor. He was brutally honest and was the kind of friend that you could count on to tell you what you needed to hear and not what he thought you wanted to hear. He thought of others before he thought of himself and you really had to press him to get him to talk about what he was going through. And Indiana Open Wheel is an example of how creative and brilliant he was. Even though he was too humble to ever acknowledge that. And even though he may have not met many of you here in person, he cared about you as much as those that he had met. He just always enjoyed keeping a low profile and staying behind the scenes.
It's going to be a long time before we find a guy to take Bill Gardner's place. Just a few things I thought I would share about the man now that I've had a little time to deal with the shock of him being gone.
Jerry
A man is about as big as the things that make him angry.
