Page 57 - THE ENDLESS WAVE | Skateboarding, Death & Spirituality

THE ENDLESS WAVE | PART ONE
The Magic Of Balance
It was a Saturday evening, and it was my team’s turn to come in and do our shift here at the funeral home. Our Saturday night shift starts pretty late in the summer months, and this one was no exception. As I peered into the main office at 9:40 p.m.. I looked at the possible incoming transfers that we would need to handle. A transfer is usually from someone’s residence, hospital bed or morgue. Sometimes, we have to pick up bodies from the coroner. This means the death is suspicious. Usually, it’s an accidental death or a suicide.
As I glanced at the paperwork, I was astonished to see someone I knew had passed away, and his body was at the coroner. Immediately, I feared the worst. I sensed it was a suicide. Not only was this person someone I knew, I had written a story about him and printed it in a magazine I published back in 2015. For confidential reasons, I will just call him “Bill”
Bill was a professional magician, and I met him back in 2015 as he was per- forming his tricks at a friend’s 50th birthday party. When you see a roaming magician at a party, you enjoy the momentary show and get back to convers- ing with your friends. But something magical happened when I met Bill. It turned out we were a year apart in age, and oddly enough, he was as intrigued by skateboarding as much as I love magic. Over the course of the evening, we spent some additional time chatting. I think I enjoyed watching people’s re- actions to his presentation more than he did.
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