Jan 31, Feb 1, 2 & 3, 2005 - Remembering
Monday - January 31, 2005 - It's the last day of January.
I'm going to begin my look back (remembrance,
retrospective, whatever) at the lives of Andrew and Jarrett
during the month of February. The reasons for this are
numerous as you can well imagine.
If I don't remember them every day of my life, then WHO
will? Who will come on here every single day and write
something about my sweet boys?
Who will look through their thousands of pictures and
scan them and crop them and fix them up - download,
upload, etc.? The answer is ME - their Mom. As I was
fond of saying, "Do I have to do EVERYTHING for you
guys?" And I always did.
I did it because they were my children and I loved them. I
wish people would listen to me when I say that you never
know when it might be the last time you see your kids.
Say something NICE. Say something KIND. You may
have to remember those words forever. Live with no
regrets - it's much less of a burden. That's my advice for
today. With love, djb
I'm going to begin my look back (remembrance,
retrospective, whatever) at the lives of Andrew and Jarrett
during the month of February. The reasons for this are
numerous as you can well imagine.
If I don't remember them every day of my life, then WHO
will? Who will come on here every single day and write
something about my sweet boys?
Who will look through their thousands of pictures and
scan them and crop them and fix them up - download,
upload, etc.? The answer is ME - their Mom. As I was
fond of saying, "Do I have to do EVERYTHING for you
guys?" And I always did.
I did it because they were my children and I loved them. I
wish people would listen to me when I say that you never
know when it might be the last time you see your kids.
Say something NICE. Say something KIND. You may
have to remember those words forever. Live with no
regrets - it's much less of a burden. That's my advice for
today. With love, djb
Jarrett & Andrew when they were young
Jarrett giving Andrew a kiss- awww
Our favorite mean cat, Meow Hobbes
Jarrett (6 mos.) Andrew (28 mos.)
Jarrett (1-1/2) Andrew (3-1/2)
Andrew and Jarrett in black & white
Andrew (13) and Jarrett (11)
Thursday - February 3, 2005 - Four weeks from today is
the Second Anniversary of the accident that claimed
Andrew and Jarrett's earthly lives. It's been 23 months
since they died. We always consider that Andrew died with
Jarrett because he was never alive after the accident. Of
course, being the way they were, they couldn't possibly
have the same date of death on their tombstone. (That's
the kind of joke that the boys would think is funny.)
Bob and I are planning to be at the cemetery all day on
March 3rd. We're not sure what to call it. A vigil?
Celebration of life? Remembrance? Whatever? Doesn't
matter what we call it. We weren't here last year because
we just couldn't handle it, so we've decided to be here this
year. I can tell you this right now, Hawaii is WAY nicer in
March than Elburn!!!
Bob wants to go to Cancun sometime. That always
reminds me of both Andrew and Jarrett learning Spanish.
We talked about the whole family going to Mexico and
since Bob speaks German, he wouldn't know WHAT we
were saying. For some reason, we thought that was
hilarious!! Muy bueno.
When they died, I thought, "Now we can't go to Mexico
together and speak Spanish." Well, I thought a lot of things,
that was just one of many. When I look at these pictures,
they crack me up because they tell a story but I'm not sure
exactly what story they were telling each other! Hasta la
vista, djb
the Second Anniversary of the accident that claimed
Andrew and Jarrett's earthly lives. It's been 23 months
since they died. We always consider that Andrew died with
Jarrett because he was never alive after the accident. Of
course, being the way they were, they couldn't possibly
have the same date of death on their tombstone. (That's
the kind of joke that the boys would think is funny.)
Bob and I are planning to be at the cemetery all day on
March 3rd. We're not sure what to call it. A vigil?
Celebration of life? Remembrance? Whatever? Doesn't
matter what we call it. We weren't here last year because
we just couldn't handle it, so we've decided to be here this
year. I can tell you this right now, Hawaii is WAY nicer in
March than Elburn!!!
Bob wants to go to Cancun sometime. That always
reminds me of both Andrew and Jarrett learning Spanish.
We talked about the whole family going to Mexico and
since Bob speaks German, he wouldn't know WHAT we
were saying. For some reason, we thought that was
hilarious!! Muy bueno.
When they died, I thought, "Now we can't go to Mexico
together and speak Spanish." Well, I thought a lot of things,
that was just one of many. When I look at these pictures,
they crack me up because they tell a story but I'm not sure
exactly what story they were telling each other! Hasta la
vista, djb
Andrew & Jarrett telling secrets
Tuesday - February 1, 2005 - This morning, I started
re-reading the newspaper articles about Andrew and
Jarrett's accident. I don't remember reading some of them
at all. Of course, I kept all the newspapers which are now
turning yellow with age. The one comment that has stayed
with me was made by Greg Milo. He said that if he'd
known he'd never see Andrew again, he would've said
something to him. How do we know when we won't see
someone again? We don't.
When I look at the pictures of the saintly boys, I'm always
amazed. They had so much energy and so much fun and
so many fights. I wonder how we would act if we really did
know that we'd never see someone again. That's an
interesting question that no one answers.
Last summer, I downloaded a cassette that Jarrett had
made with Kevin Lamb and Jon Britz. It's the one I call the
"jackass video." It's quite hilarious. The most enjoyable
part of it was seeing Jarrett having so much fun. The most
difficult part was hearing his voice again. But at the same
time, it thrilled me to hear his voice again. If you think I'm
being too much of a mope and a crepe hanger, I'm not.
This is what I'm supposed to do...tell you once again to be
kind.
When Jarrett was in middle school, he came home with his
yearbook half-filled with the messages and taunts that only
the kids that age understand. He said that a girl wanted to
sign his book, but she was "weird and not cool." He didn't
want her signing his book so he managed to avoid it by
saying someone else had it. I asked him why she was
weird. Well, no one likes her because she's new and
doesn't have any friends, etc.
I told Jarrett, "You know what you can do....you can let her
sign your book and you sign her book. That'll make her
day. Then maybe some of the other kids will do the same
thing. Jarrett, just remember to be KIND to her." Yeah,
yeah, yeah was his reply.
So, when he got home the next day on the last day of
school, he told me that he signed her yearbook and she
signed his. She thanked him ever so much and he felt very,
very good about himself. Then, some of the other kids
signed her book. You know what he told me, "You were
right, Mom." (Music to a mother's ears!!) God bless you,
sweetie -- I miss you so much. djb
re-reading the newspaper articles about Andrew and
Jarrett's accident. I don't remember reading some of them
at all. Of course, I kept all the newspapers which are now
turning yellow with age. The one comment that has stayed
with me was made by Greg Milo. He said that if he'd
known he'd never see Andrew again, he would've said
something to him. How do we know when we won't see
someone again? We don't.
When I look at the pictures of the saintly boys, I'm always
amazed. They had so much energy and so much fun and
so many fights. I wonder how we would act if we really did
know that we'd never see someone again. That's an
interesting question that no one answers.
Last summer, I downloaded a cassette that Jarrett had
made with Kevin Lamb and Jon Britz. It's the one I call the
"jackass video." It's quite hilarious. The most enjoyable
part of it was seeing Jarrett having so much fun. The most
difficult part was hearing his voice again. But at the same
time, it thrilled me to hear his voice again. If you think I'm
being too much of a mope and a crepe hanger, I'm not.
This is what I'm supposed to do...tell you once again to be
kind.
When Jarrett was in middle school, he came home with his
yearbook half-filled with the messages and taunts that only
the kids that age understand. He said that a girl wanted to
sign his book, but she was "weird and not cool." He didn't
want her signing his book so he managed to avoid it by
saying someone else had it. I asked him why she was
weird. Well, no one likes her because she's new and
doesn't have any friends, etc.
I told Jarrett, "You know what you can do....you can let her
sign your book and you sign her book. That'll make her
day. Then maybe some of the other kids will do the same
thing. Jarrett, just remember to be KIND to her." Yeah,
yeah, yeah was his reply.
So, when he got home the next day on the last day of
school, he told me that he signed her yearbook and she
signed his. She thanked him ever so much and he felt very,
very good about himself. Then, some of the other kids
signed her book. You know what he told me, "You were
right, Mom." (Music to a mother's ears!!) God bless you,
sweetie -- I miss you so much. djb
