Goodbye Billy

Have you ever experienced something you just can’t explain?

Yes, weird things DO happen sometimes, like two people saying the same thing at the same moment.

That’s mostly just coincidence. But recently I had a very unusual experience.

Just a little background: My old friend, Billy Weltha, had been sick – actually slowly dying – for some time. I tried to stay in touch with him with monthly phone calls and occasional visits back to my home state, which is about 650 miles away.

But then I could not reach him by phone, and he had no computer for email. Growing concerned, I finally reached his ex-wife who told me Billy was REALLY dying and had entered hospice care.

It was a sad thing to hear, but I didn’t know if I wanted to make the day-long drive back to see him one last time. That was when my wife said these moments are what life is all about and that I should definitely make the journey.

So I did.

Halfway there, I called Billy’s Ex and learned that he had died that very morning as I was driving to say goodbye.

I was gutpunched. What should I do? Should I turn around and go back home, or keep going and do whatever I could to comfort his Ex and family?

I decided to go on.

Arriving at my destination that evening, Billy’s Ex and I made plans to have breakfast the next day and talk about his final days, which we did. Later that day, I drove to my hometown where Billy had been living before entering hospice.

Just on a whim, I decided to go to City Park and take some pictures of some new chainsaw sculptures recently added to the area.

Walking through the park, I entered an old rock-constructed shelter house with a sidewalk running through it. Its architecture intrigued me, so I walked in with my smartphone camera in hand.

For no particular reason, I happened to look down at the sidewalk at my feet. And there, in what appeared to be fairly fresh chalk and neatly written, was the word “Weltha,” the name of my deceased friend.

Whoahhhh…

I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t, but I have the photo.

I showed it to several other people. They were just as stunned and baffled as me.

Keep in mind: This was the day after Billy passed. Almost no one outside his immediate family knew that. And no one knew I was coming back to see him or that I would be entering that particular structure that day, because I’d told no one of my plans for the day.

Just visiting the park and getting out of my car to walk around and take photos was only a whim.

Billy’s Ex was at a loss when I told her, but she took it calmly. I asked her if she thought it was Billy saying goodbye to me.

“I would like to think it was Billy," she said in an email. "If something gives us peace, a smile – then good."

Yeah, it did do those things. It showed me that not everything in Life can be easily explained.

And that’s OK.

Goodbye, Billy.

Billy Joe Weltha, Booneville, Iowa, 1979