January 8, 2001, will mark the 10th anniversary of Steve Clark’s passing to the Summerland. I wanted to wait till then to publish this, but I decided it needed to see the light of day before then. So...this is for Steve. We miss you, we love you and we’ll see you on the other side.

*********************************************
January 8, 2001

Man, what a day. I never expected to end up here, but you know how things are when you’re nearly brain dead and need to lie low a bit. It’s good to see you again, mate.

It’s been a bit. I haven’t been out here in awhile, too many people around when you want to just sit and talk. But you remember how that is...we’d get to talking about something, get interrupted and never get back to it. I always thought we’d have all the time in the world. Guess I was wrong.

You’d really be proud of the way the band has grown. We’re not the mega-popular band we once were, but I think that no longer being the teen flavor of the month has done something to us. Made us more appreciative of what we DO have, of the fans that are still around, all of that. We’ve gotten so enmeshed in one another now, it’s like...well, it’s like having four souls as well as my own living in my skin.

I guess I shouldn’t say four...maybe five? You’re still there, you know? Sometimes in the studio I think I’ll see you walk by and when I turn around, it’s just my imagination. It used to freak me out but I’m used to it now. I thought I was the only one until Phil and I started comparing notes and...

Even with all the water under the bridge, I still get so goddamn mad at you. I tried so hard to make you see what you were doing to yourself, tried to get you to understand that you weren’t just hurting yourself but EVERYONE around you as well.
But you wouldn’t listen, you never did. You thought you were immortal, but then again, I guess all of us did back then.
 

You’d really be shocked if you could see the kids. Rory’s going to be a teenager in a few years; he’s his dad’s carbon copy. Sort of. Rick’s a dad too, he’s got a lovely little girl named Lauren, and guess what? Sav has a kid too, a son. Named him Tyler and you’d think no one else ever had a kid from the way he acts. And I can’t forget Vivian’s daughter Lilly, she’s just beyond cute. I really like being their unofficial uncle, it means I can spoil the shit out of them and not get into trouble for it!
 

And the fans...I can see they’ve been here too lately. Even with the weather being so cold and snowy, they come here. I try to stay away when they’re here, I don’t want to interrupt them or their time with you. You wouldn’t believe the websites devoted just to you...hell, you’d probably be embarrassed!

Well, I hate to go so soon, but I see some fans coming this way, so I’d better leave before it turns into a circus. Here, you hang onto these for me, okay?

I miss you, mate.

****************************************
The small cluster of fans gathered around Steve Clark’s headstone, their heads bowed in silence. They each held something to be placed on the grave and their breath steamed in the cold English air.

Just then, one of the fans noticed a small bouquet of pink and white rosebuds that had been placed right up against the stone. She knelt to place her own bouquet next to it and bumped the flowers just enough for a small slip of paper to fall out. She opened it up, read the message scrawled inside and with a tear in her eyes, she slipped it back into the flowers and gestured for her companions to hand their flowers and gifts down. She’d never tell anyone what was written on the paper, nor would she have stooped to steal it out of the flowers. Sighing, she dusted the knees of her jeans off and led her companions out of the cemetery.

The paper said, “Ten Years Gone. Never forgotten. Always loved.”

“Your friend,

 Joe Elliott”
 

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