When someone we love passes away, it’s only natural to want to honor their life and preserve their memory in a way that feels fitting. For David Bailey, this need was deeply personal. When David lost his father in 2015, he began searching for the perfect way to memorialize him. We spoke with David about his decision to go with Parting Stone and how he incorporated that choice into an epic journey to learn about his roots.
David Bailey grew up in Montreal, Canada, and starting in childhood, his father played a major role in shaping his values. In our conversation with him, David recalled a story from his teenage years that he considers a formative moment in his life—a moment that paints a picture of the kind of person his father was.
“I might have been 14. We lived on the south side of Montreal and went to a church in downtown Montreal—it was quite a drive,” David explained. “And so every Sunday, we'd end up taking two cars: my mom would take the rest of the family and go straight to the church, and my dad would take me, and we'd go another way. He went miles and miles out of his way to pick up this elderly lady and her daughter to bring them to church. We're driving one time, and I looked at him and said, ‘Why are we picking up the Finks? I know a bunch of people who drive right by their front door every Sunday morning that could pick them up. Why do we have to take two cars? Do we have to go out of our way? Why do we have to do that?’ My dad never took his eyes off the road. Didn't flinch and quietly said, ‘Because nobody else will do it,’ and that sentence shaped the arc of my life.”
David pinpointed that moment as one that helped him recognize life’s meaning: doing what needs to be done and helping those who can’t help themselves, regardless of the personal cost. His father’s quiet selflessness left an indelible mark on him, shaping his approach to life and instilling in him the importance of service, compassion, and doing the right thing, no matter the inconvenience.
The weight of wanting to commemorate his father in a meaningful way eventually led David to Parting Stone, but the road to finding this unique tribute wasn’t straightforward.
After his father’s passing, David found himself consumed with the need to remember his father’s life, not just through his own memories, but through the stories of others. “My intent at that point in time was to take my dad on one final trip on my motorcycle and spend time with him. And what I wanted to do was to gather stories,” explained David. His father’s only remaining sibling, Gail, was one of the few people left who could provide those stories. David planned a visit with her, but just before they were set to get together, Gail passed away unexpectedly. “I was like, ‘That's not even possible,’” David remembered. “I just spoke with her—it isn't even possible. She was gone, and when she left, every story left with her. There was no one that I could ask.”
Realizing how quickly memories and connections can vanish, David became determined to gather stories from other relatives, friends, and old family acquaintances. He wanted to ensure that his father’s legacy—his values, memories, and impact—would not disappear with time. However, life had other plans. David was diagnosed with cancer, went through a divorce, and then the pandemic struck, delaying his plans for years.
During this time, David discovered the concept of Parting Stone. “I can't remember the first time I interacted with it, but I was like, ‘That's what I want to do. I can take my dad, and I can travel with him and leave these Parting Stones at places that were important to him. And I can do it in such a way that it doesn’t just disappear,’” David told us. “I think many people find relief and satisfaction when they spread the ashes—take them down to the river and spread them, or do this, or do that—but I wanted something that was more permanent. The idea of permanence with Parting Stone was what was so amazing to me.”
David also lost his mother during this time, so he chose to commingle his parents’ remains and have them both transformed into solidified remains. Then, in June of 2022, after years of waiting, David finally set out on his journey. He loaded his parents’ solidified remains onto his motorcycle and embarked on a cross-country trip from Rockport, Texas, to Vancouver, and across Canada. From cousins to old family friends, David revisited the lives of people he hadn’t seen in decades, all while leaving Parting Stones at each significant location.
David first stopped at his sister’s home in Vancouver, where he set up a camera and asked her to share any memories or stories she had. David received 80 stones when he had his parents’ remains solidified, so he was able to easily divide them among his siblings while still holding onto some.
He was also able to share some of the remains with his daughter, who was unable to travel for his parents’ memorials. David explained the impact of that option: “My only daughter had adult onset epilepsy and was in care in the city of Edmonton. Unfortunately, a couple of months ago, she passed, but I stopped there and we were able to sit, and I said, ‘There's a Parting Stone from Grandma and Grandpa.’ The power of Parting Stone is that it doesn’t disappear. It’s solidified remains, but it's like this connection. It’s like this sense of connection.”
David continued across Canada, visiting meaningful places and connecting with more family, some of whom he hadn’t seen in 30 or 40 years. He left a Parting Stone at his father’s favorite fishing spot in Manitou—a place where his father had spent years casting lines into the water. David shared the below video of this moment to social media:
In Montreal, where David grew up, he placed another stone beneath the concrete stoop of their old apartment building. He made a visit to the church where his parents had been regular attendees for many years, leaving a stone as a permanent tribute to his parents’ faith and devotion to the community. At Windsor Station, where his father had worked for nearly five decades with Canadian Pacific Railroads, he left a stone to honor his father’s years of service and dedication.
The journey also took David to a cemetery in Montreal, where he knew his grandfather was buried. David had never visited there before, but he was able to find both his grandfather and grandmother’s graves and reunite his father with his parents in a way that felt deeply significant: “I knelt down and placed the stone, saying, ‘Here you go, Dad. You’re with your mom and dad now.’”
David left there and continued on to New Brunswick, where his cousin Charlie lived. David told us the experience of reuniting with Charlie and the emotional events surrounding that visit:
“I hadn't seen him since I was maybe eight or nine. Our entire lives had passed. . .[so] we caught up about everything, and he began to tell me his stories. Charlie said to me, ‘The old family farm where your mom and my mom were raised is on Cape Breton Island, and if you go on the island, you’ll go through this little town. About five miles past, there's this road that says Mount Vernon. If you go down there, you'll recognize the old farmhouse.’ He said about a mile down from there, there's an old cemetery. He said, ‘I don't know what's there, but you might find something.’ So sure enough, I get there, and turn down this gravel road, ride miles down the road to find the farm, [and then] I keep going, and there's the cemetery. So I jump off my bike, and I'm shooting pictures and video when I see this headstone—kind of an obelisk; taller than the other ones. I go over there and start pulling the weeds from the base, and I’m like—‘Grandpa!’ My mom’s dad died when she was 13 of appendicitis, so I never met him. I had no idea what happened to him. And there I am, all of a sudden, standing in front of my granddad’s grave. I don't even know what to do with myself. I keep pulling the weeds away and I see ‘and his beloved wife Mary Shaw.’ I start bawling.”
David Bailey visiting the cemetery where he discovered the final resting place of his mother's family.
David went on to uncover the graves of his mother’s brothers as well and chose to leave a stone there. In doing so, David told us the message he had for his mother: “Here you are, Mom. You're with your people. These are your people, and I've brought you home.”
To honor his parents' time together, David also went to the harbor in Halifax where his parents met. “My dad had come from Montreal to be in the Navy, which was based in Nova Scotia. My mom had come from Cape Breton Island to get a job in Halifax. That's where they met, and my dad was married in his Navy uniform. It was so important to him. I was able to stand there on the naval docks and leave a Parting Stone in the waters off of the place where the story of their love and family had begun,” David explained.
David’s journey culminated in Newfoundland, in the village where his father’s family had originated. His father had always wanted to take David to the fishing village to see the place where his own father had grown up, but they had never made the trip. David was able to track down distant relatives in the area who provided him with countless stories and photos he had never seen of his great-grandparents. Finally, accompanied by his brother, who flew in to meet him, David visited the docks of Trinity Bay, where his father’s story had begun. There, they left a Parting Stone in the water as the waves crashed against the shore, knowing they had fulfilled the mission of honoring their parents’ legacy.