On a beautiful sunny day, I drove a couple of hours into the High Unitah area of Utah for a special memorial for Garret Bardsley - the missing boy scout who made national headlines almost a year ago when he went missing from his Mirror Lake camp. The following is excerpted from a nationwide bulletin:
"Garrett Alexander Bardsley was last seen at approximately 8 a.m. on August 20, 2004 at Cuberant Lake in the Uinta Mountains of Utah. He was fishing with his father when his feet got wet so he started to walk back to the campsite to change his shoes. He never arrived at the campsite.
Garrett is no longer wearing braces as shown in his photo but he has a small gap between his front teeth. He was last seen wearing red sweatpants, a T-shirt, a black hooded sweatshirt, and Converse tennis shoes."
Kevin Bardsley invited me to sing two numbers at the Court of Honor Eagle Award presentation given to Garrett's older brother Cameron. The ceremony was to be held at the beautiful Mirror Lake - a mere mile from where Garrett's body is presumed to be. As I drove there with my youngest daughter Erika, we couldn't help but be moved by the emotional juxtiposition of the awesome beauty of this area and the incredible sadness of a life taken to early.
After talking briefly to the 150 friends and family gathered among the pines, I performed a medley of patriotic tunes on the piano followed by Erika singing "Prayer of the Children" which never sounded more appropriate than in these surroundings.
My thanks to the Bardleys for the opportunity to be a part of such a special day - one that will never be forgotten by this composer.
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