Darren was the purest soul I have ever seen. He was, in his essence, a kind and innocent childlike man. His childlike ways were so lovely. I'm quite childlike too, so we got along famously as a result. He delighted in the pleasure of walking through an unmown field in the height of summer, or round a reservoir in the rain, laughing at any opportunity over the most ridiculous of things that came up in conversation, going to Bury Market to wander round the stalls just looking, or staring at a full moon on a hilltop in the middle of nowhere with the stars dotted around it. He had a depth to him that he rarely showed. It was there though. He grew an apple tree from a seed for Pheobe, and I wanted her to have the first apple it grew. I hope she gets it as his eldest child this year, and that the tree is abundant with apples for years to come for all. We'd often find ourselves laughing until we nearly burst into tears or were rendered speechless with only a long wheezing sound coming out of our face holes as the last vestiges of human effort and exhaustion from laughing. Edisford Bridge was a favourite place, watching the stream run by, throwing pebbles into it, and eating chips from Whalley Road Chippy in Clitheroe on the bench next to the river having ridden there on his Fazer 600. All of it was magic and so stupidly innocent that it was hard for others to understand but nonetheless, they could not fail to see the happiness we exuded. It was infectious. I mithered him into getting the Fazer when we first met. He did about 2 weeks later. It was high summer and he should have had a bike by then anyway really. I wondered why he didn't in mid riding season. It seemed natural to me to enable him towards what made him happy. It's all I ever wanted for him. I'll never forget the joy that radiated out of him when I took him to pick the Fazer up and he rode it back from Yorkshire! I can still see his face now and his eyes alight with...well, whatever motorbikes did to Darren! It was quite wondrous! He was a really good soul. He still is. When the body leaves, the soul remains. Eternally.