The idea was that he’d make a little caricature on a piece of paper that we’d mail around to friends and they’d take pictures of it and send them back. He’d get to see far away places while staying in touch with family & friends.
I personally cannot make sense of losing Ian. We grew our businesses together, in conjunction with one another. We were peers but not & it didn’t matter. We shared a common passion and had found ways to make respective livings from it. We walked miles in the same shoes and could pick up right where we had left off with one another – even if it was 12 months later.
Some how, some way – this one REALLY stings. I find it all so incredibly sad. I know ‘men’, 47 year olds and especially race car drivers are not supposed to admit it…..but…..I honestly can’t stop crying. It sneaks up at the oddest times. It makes me wonder if I didn’t live up to my end of the deal by expressing my appreciation for the color he brought to my life. The idea of him becoming a distant memory seems so …. well ….wrong.
That’s when it hit me.
While we all work to make some sense of it, I thought we could make the “Flat Stanley” idea a tribute to Ian. Please get these stickers and accept the mission that comes with them. The mission is to fly them on your race car and take pictures at all of your fun events. Let’s post them on his FB wall. It will be our way of keeping he, his spirit and his gift to all of us (enabling the passion) alive.
I only wish he was here to see, maybe things would have been different.
Bruce Ledoux
#82 360 Challenge
Challenge Club Racing Series
P.S. – Want a set? Please send self addressed, stamped envelope to Guardian Angel Motorsports, c/o Bruce Ledoux, 6 Angelica Lane, Southborough, MA 01772
Hello Bruce,
You have written here what I feel about Ian and his passing very well, including the odd crying spells. You and I have never met but Ian and I also grew up racing together all the way back to when I was racing my BMW2002tii in ITA and he with his ITC Fiesta. We had similar back grounds growing up (my dad went to Deerfield) love for cars and racing etc. I think what you have done is great and without blabing too long, I just wanted to say I would like one or even two. I now live in Germany and would love to post a picture with Ian’s sticker on my car at the Nurburgring (a place he always said we wanted to come see and drive with me) I’m sure you know all about this famous track.
Anyway, I will not make the service on Friday but my dad will (Eric Hall) if you happen to be there and bump into him please say hi and if you have the stickers available you can hand him some or at least one for the “Ring” 🙂 All the best and trust me, this has been so hard for me that this is the first time I have written to anyone about it…
Great idea and maybe our paths will cross someday…
Best Tim