There is a rugged, unspoken mercy in every final goodbye. Never, do we walk away hollow.

When the hymn drifts into the rafters and handshakes soften to silence, grief slips a sacred heirloom into your coat pocket. A spark of their fire. A splinter of their spine.

TAIT: Friends remember legacy of Oilers owners group architect Cal Nichols Back to video

We don’t just mourn a giant: rather we harvest the seed he sowed. We pocket his courage, claim his quiet truth, and stitch his stubborn heartbeat into our own chest. Close your eyes for just a heartbeat, and let the frantic noise of this world fade to a quiet whisper.

Think of the great prairie, where the earth reaches out to touch an oceanic sky. Out in Paradise Hill, Sask., weathered wooden grain elevators stood against the western wind like silver cathedrals of cedar and dust, keeping watch over good folks who carved life from cold ground.

That is where Cal Nichols first learned the rhythm of the human........

© Edmonton Sun