Emerson, Steven, and Derek Gale, (they watched the blog everyday as well)

Good Evening,

I can't begin to tell you how sorry i am for the way that this turned out, I have just kind of been looking at the screen for a few days now trying to put it all together, and your statement at the top,
"God Bless, Sweet Dreams...Don't let the bed bugs bite", I guess that pretty much did me in, I have said that to my sons every night since they came home from the hospital, so it is pretty hard to read it and not be affected by it.

Although it is hard to lose someone it is always much harder to lose someone so young, but your son accomplished more of his goals in his time here then most do by the time they are 80, and he earned the respect of a great many people with his willingness to put himself out there to help others, if you had something to say, he would listen, if you had a question he would answer it, and when necessary a smart ass remark might also come into play (a kid after my own heart). Hilton was looked up to by young people for his abilities and willingness to help them learn, and by older people for the qualities he possessed as a person, not many people his age have that ability. I looked up to him as someone that had the qualities in a young adult that i am trying to put forward to my sons.

Although I didn't know him as well as many of the people on the forum and in his life, I had talked with him at a few sessions, and on the forum, and anytime i would ask him what i presumed to be a dumb ass question he would answer with as much information as he could, and again, a smart assed comment if warranted, and i knew i had it coming, but he would be cool about it, and never demeaning or mean about it. (yea, i had stupid questions at times).

I have read that you are starting the Hilton Byrne Foundation, I was in touch with the Ian Tillman Foundation before the board meeting, regarding starting a program here in Canada to provide proper helmets to those who need them. At that time their schedule and mine were both pretty full, but I was just about to begin the process the same time that this had happened to Hilton, but I believe that what you are doing has far more personal meaning and is a far more fitting honor. If you need any assistance getting this up and running, planning events and so on, please let me know, I would be more then happy and honored to help out.

Again, i am really sorry for your loss, but take care of each other and cherish your memories and what you have, and if there are any typo's or gammatical errors i apologize, but it is hard to type when everything is blurry, i'm amazed i haven't shorted my keyboard out yet.

Tim, when i met you at the hospital, i'm really sorry i had to leave, i needed to get back to work as they were having what they deemed to be a melt down, but it was nice to meet you, and I apologize for not being able to say much it was hard to see your pain knowing what was going on, and being on that floor brought back rush of memories that were really hard to control, and knowing what you were going through i knew i couldn't hold it together much longer, luckily by the time I hit the elevator, the little old lady there had a kleenex for me and even offered to buy me a hot cocoa to help me feel better. instead of the cocoa i gave her help to get home instead as she was kind of lost. After meeting your family and yourself it was easy to see why Hilton was who he was, and why he was as strong as he was.

Hilton, I said i would never put stickers on my nice new Rotoule board, or nice new helmet, or my first ever decent car, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH dammit, now they all have stickers on them, I would call you a shit head for this, but it is right that they be there.

Take Care

Emerson, Steven, and Derek Gale, (they watched the blog everyday as well)

It has been said that energy can not be destroyed, only changed, to take on another form, and it is endless. The human being is comprised of energy, and Hilton was aloooot of energy.