Richard Petrone: Missing Since February 19, 2005


Thanksgiving Day, 2011

my dear nephew…how proud you would be on this special day…your baby girl ang has blossomed into a beautiful grown woman…a simply phenomenal mother…and all that any parent could ask for in a child…please continue to watch over and protect her, your wonderful grandson and your incredible family who carry all of the sadness quietly…with grace and dignity…i hope and pray every night and day that your soul is at peace…xoxoxoxoxoxo
aunt lisa, Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Love fills the spaces you left behind
And peace like a river flows over the grandson you will never know
Maybe there’s a heaven but I don’t believe in magic
Richard Petrone, Thursday, November 24, 2011

August 29, 2011: Richard’s 42nd birthday

Nothing to say
Even less to feel
There’s no more left
For this sorrow to steal
I wish I could have asked forgiveness
I wish I could have undone the wrongs
All the silly, stupid, senseless slights
That we carried around far too long
Now it’s your birthday
And you’re not here
I can’t find you
So off to Asbury Park
The boardwalk, beach,bars and tears
And your music, always music
Where I can catch a glimpse of you,
Brief and bittersweet but it’s the best I can do
At least I know that you’ll be there
And somewhere in those songs I find your sweetness
I feel your soul and your sense of joy
At the end of the day I’ll have a drink or 3 or 4
A toast to my dead son
Who lies I know not where
I’ll sit in the dark, and the silence
And wait
For judgement day
For the fates to make their play
For justice, for revenge
God…damn you God
This was no way for a good man to go down
Richard Petrone, Monday, August 29, 2011

Happy Birthday Rich…not a day goes by that you are not in my thoughts, on my mind and in my heart.
Love forever, Kim
Kim Caiola (Kelly), Sunday, August 28, 2011

June 19, 2011 – On this father’s day I honor you my son

dawn is breaking. The sky lightens to a pinkish hue. I watch this day begin but the pain in my heart just won’t go away and the hole in my heart seems to swallow me. Darkness seems to be all around. But then there is some light that draws me to it. A defiance in the face of dread. An answer to the unanswerable. A yes to the daily regimen of no. An affirmation of life where none can easily be found. It is my son’s garden…a place of rare peace and beauty, where the seeds that he planted have grown and flowered in a way that honors him beyond mere words. As I sit in that garden I am surrounded by love and beauty. I can see and feel and touch all the dedication and commitment that flowed from his soul. I can sense all the small moments and daily efforts he put into tending that garden and raising his Angel. His love was not in vain. When I sit in his garden I am swept up in the beauty that has grown there. I am as close to peace as I can be with Angela in the middle of that place. Growing as he hoped she would into a special woman and wonderful mother. And then there is little Timmy…a lighthouse in a sea of darkness if there ever was one. The joy he has brought us is indescribable. He is love and Joy and sweetness. And then in the middle of it all stands big Tim. Solid as an oak and the protector of his family. Watching them I know my son would be proud of what he left us. It is our obligation, our duty, and our responsibility to honor the efforts of those no longer here. On this father’s day I honor you my son for all that you did in the short time you were here with us.
Richard Petrone, Sunday, June 19, 2011

February 19, 2011
Marks the 6 Year Anniversary of Richard’s Disappearance

I never missed your smile til it was gone from our sight
I never missed your sparkling eyes til they were stolen in the night
Now your booming laugh is silenced
And your mighty heart is still
So much of you seems frozen in space and time
As I look upon your pictures, nothing has changed
As we’ve grown older, you remain the same; forever young
And again I am reminded of this song when you were only 5 years old
Which turned out to be true…
May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young
Because of a thief in the night your youth, your future and your life were stolen. But you will still remain forever young and strong and beautiful
Rich Petrone, Saturday, February 19, 2011

 

I’m leaving my family
I’m leaving all my friends
My body’s been broken
But my soul is in the wind
It wasn’t my choice
But my time’s at an end

Say goodbye to my Angel
Tell her not to cry
My farewell is written
By the moon in the sky

I left my broken body
I left that time and space
I live now in your thoughts and dreams
And your heart’s special place

Remember me
You can’t follow me
I’m traveling alone
Just hold me in you heart awhile
Til I find my way home
Rich Petrone, Saturday, February 19, 2011

Shot Through The Heart

You took away a son & left a mother’s heart in tears
You took away a father & left a daughter full of fear
You stole a precious life and turned it into dust
You stole my heart, my soul, and turned it into rust
But his memory will linger deep inside of me…

I loved that boy by heart; now my world is torn apart
I’m at a loss for words, and I’m hardly ever heard
Am I singing or crying? Living or dying?
Some days, it’s all the same to me
But you’ll never kill his spirit forever running free

Vanished out of sight
A shot in the dark
A shot in the night
A shot through the heart…
But, I’ll be alright…

How can so much heartache come to any good?
Is this Godforsaken life worth another look?
So I’ll say goodbye to grief leaning down on me…
…we’ll be alright…

© 2011 Limehouse Chappy Music

 

8-29-10 Asbury Park
It’s a hot summer morning. The car is loaded with your favorite music and I head north to your favorite town. For more than an hour those certain Springsteen songs are blasting and I remember you so clearly, so full of happiness and joy and LIFE.

I believe in the love
I believe in the faith
I believe in the hope…and I pray

The songs bring such strong emotions and vivid memories that I can feel you in the music.

It is spiritual and thru the tears I drive on to that most sacred of places for you, where you heard the words and felt the power of the music. Like a church this gospel offered the promise of redemption and maybe even salvation thru faith. And God knows you tried mightily.

Driving thru town I pass the streets and places that resonate in our shared songs. Along the storied boardwalk I walk thru the ancient convention center and on past Madam Marie’s.

As people stroll the boards enjoying the sun drenched day, none could guess at the heartbreak felt and shared just a few steps away. Your mother had made trip alone that day concerned for me along with a desire to see the place that meant so much to you. Sitting in a restaurant on the boardwalk she offered a toast to “Richard.” The waiter approached and seeing the tears in her eyes asked if there was anything he could do If only. Everything is wrong and nothing seems right. Nothing can ever be whole again. It’s the worst day of the year…it’s your birthday.

Everything is everything, but you’re missing
Rich Petrone, Saturday, February 19, 2011 I wish this day didn’t have to be linked to you in this way, buddy. It’s so easy to get caught up in everyday living, something many of us take for granted. I wish you had that choice too. Stacey reminded me last night of what day today was. It’s a day I don’t like to think about. Yet still, if it means having to think about you, then I’ll take it. Otherwise, what else do I have? CD’s, t-shirts, posters, pictures? Whatever material things I have can’t hold a candle to what the essence of your “being” brought to me in life. It was something that was just there…and now it’s not. All I truly have that matter now are the memories. I like thinking warm thoughts of you, which I often do. The stuff that makes me smile from ear to ear. I talked to a good friend tonight that I haven’t spoken to in a while. He reminds me alot of you. Not in the way he looks or talks, or even in his interests. It’s his inner being. It’s hard to describe it, but you just know what it is,…that warm, unconditional love, trust and happiness that someone brings to you that you can’t put a price on. A bond that can never be broken in life…only in death. The only way I can come close to still feeling your essence now in life is through music. And, I’m so very thankful for that. Memories alone are merely thoughts, but when they are blended with the music we shared…ahh, then you are there with me, my friend. And since that is all that I have, then that is what I will take and cherish. So. as I say goodnight to you this night, I play Bruce’s Blood Brothers…and you are here with me.
Love and miss you buddy,
TP
I’ll keep movin’ through the dark with you in my heart, my blood brother.
Tom Pelle, Saturday, February 19, 2011

 

Dearest Richard, Just to let you know that you will never be forgotten. I can still see your face, I can still hear your voice and I can still recall your funny stories and sense of humor. No one can take that away. We miss you so much and I just wanted you to know wherever you are that I am thinking of you on this day and always. Love, Rosemarie
Rosemarie Bonavitacola, Saturday, February 19, 2011