Remembering Steve

    Steve, my first cousin once removed, who died in a plane crash a week ago was my "Thailand buddy."  Our relationship began 6 years ago at a Bergh family (my maternal relatives) reunion at my cousin Millie's place near Engelvale, ND.  I'd known Steve since he was born July 5, 1963 but I hadn't known him very well.  He grew up on the parental farm west of Canby, MN and eventually left farming and ended up in the Twin Cities.
   Steve was manning the grill at the reunion in ND cooking hamburgers and brats.  Some one told me that he's been in Thailand so I went over to chat with him.  We shared stories and compared notes of our travels in SE Asia and Thailand in particular. That was the beginning of a special friendship.
We didn't see each other so often but we'd make a point of connecting especially when one of us was recently back from a trip.  That was a time to share stories and pictures over lunch.  My adventures pale in comparison to Steve's.
  His favorite method of seeing a country was via motorcycle.  He'd ridden extensively in Thailand and Laos visiting Thailand 20 times.  Many of his rides were in the back country on barely visible trails along the borders.  He was often stopped by the army in Thailand along the border with Burma. They'd check his papers and let him go again.  He rode all the way north through Laos to the border with China.
  Indonesian and The Philippines were other countries he explored by motorcycle. The traffic was the worst in Indonesia.  It was in The Philippines that he hit a water buffalo while riding a motorcycle. Neither he nor the buffalo were hurt.  Perhaps his riskiest ride was doing much of northern Mexico on a dirt bike.
  His death came later on the same day the last Bergh reunion ended...this one was at Joy Ranch, Watertown, SD.  It was wonderful to spend time with him at the reunion.  He showed me pictures of his last trip to Asia which was just last June. He took his significant other and her family to Laos and Thailand. The Tiger Temple enthralled him and he planned to swim with the tigers on his next trip. Steve was very interested in hearing of my experience in Kunming, China because he was thinking of traveling there.
   We always had a lot to talk about.  He showed me pictures of  the ultra-light airplane in which he and mark died.  One of the pictures was a movie of Mark flying the ultra-light.  I wondered if he really wanted to fly in plane powered by a lawn mower engine. Twice during the reunion in response to people remarking on his risky adventures he said "I don't plan to get out of this alive."
  My heart aches when I think about Steve and Mark...Steve my Thailand buddy and his best friend and brother, Mark.