Wow, I don?t know where to start. Kevin, our eldest son was fatally injured in a Motorcycle accident 9/26, on the interstate. He was pronounced dead at the scene. According to the Trooper and the information he got from witnesses, he was changing lanes when he lost control. It had just started to rain hard when the accident occurred. According to the trooper, speed was not a factor, and there was no involvement with another vehicle.
I have meet a few on this board and some are aware of this news, but before the grape vine took off, I thought I would post.
I will thank everyone in advance for their kindness and concern.
I hope you will indulge me in expressing my thoughts.
I truly believe that funerals should not be about the passing of the person, but a celebration of their life. So I was in charge of searching through the thousands of pictures, including the old slides, to make a digital slide show of his life, to show at the calling hours and services. We ended up with a couple of boards with snapshots attached, and three flat screens scrolling over 350 photos of his life.
It was hard at first, but as I began to find more and more pictures of his life, good memories flooded in to reinforced my belief that it is all about the life, not the passing. I truly believe Kevin lived a good one. As a family we traveled frequently taking annual and numerous other vacations. Kevin, his two brothers and the wife I spent a month traveling the Rockies in the ?94. We had traveled all over the east coast and Canada numerous times. As a family we skied and motorcycled, we even took the entire family to the Alps to ride in 2004 for two weeks. I reflected and realized that even though he was with us a short time, we squeezed out more than many would in several life times. No, we were not wealthy, but we were frugal and rather than spend money on the material goods, invested in the family. The wife and I both agree, particularly in retrospect, that this was one of the best decisions we made in our lives.
Those here know the dangers of riding, in fact a few times when others have expressed concern about letting other family members take up this sport, I was always an advocate. In spite of living through what people fear most, I still am. I will say it again, motorcycling was, and still is, one of the threads that bind the fabric of our family. I truly believe that in spite of the recent events, I still am ahead.
Kevin was the eldest, and as children inevitably do, set out to start his own life. Many times contact with the family diminishes greatly, as they forge their own life and pick their way through life, and although this was the case at times, we stayed close because of our shared affection for riding. Kevin had his motorcycle license before his car license, and always loved riding. In his adult life we took numerous day and weekend trips, did several track days together, shared the social aspect of riding with a bunch of people from the area, and of course took our last ?Family Vacation? when we all went to Europe to ride in 2004. None of this would have happened without the shared interest in two wheels.
At the funeral we had a line out the door for three hours straight, and standing room only at the service, so we have lots of support. We didn?t want to deal with a big gathering after the burial, so we delayed it and kept that to immediate family and his best friends from school. At the suggestion of his ex-wife, and in total agreement with us, his brothers, and his current companion, we all went to a real Irish pub, tipped a few Guinness?s, reminisced his life, learned more details from his HS buddies, of the escapades during his HS days. We all had a great time, and all know that is just what he would have wanted, and where he would be, if the shoe was on the other foot. My wife even commented to the youngest boy?s today, that when her time comes, we need to find a great pub, and repeat the event.
I am sure as we start to slow down, it will hit us, it is inevitable, but we still have a very close family and two young children that we need to help raise. Again I take solace in the fact that we had lots of good times, while at the same time feeling sorry for those that were fairly new in his life, as they have lost their chance to do the same.
I truly appreciate, and thank everyone for your concern. Family and friends have, and will continue to, help us work through this. My best advice is to keep those important relationships close, you never know when you might not get a chance to do so in the future.
Thanks again.
Richard & Cecilia
Most did not know him, but here is a view into his life.
Guess he came by it naturally.
Good times traveling and growing.
The Europe trip.
Having fun
Being responsible.
His Legacy, for those left behind to give them the best life possible.
I have meet a few on this board and some are aware of this news, but before the grape vine took off, I thought I would post.
I will thank everyone in advance for their kindness and concern.
I hope you will indulge me in expressing my thoughts.
I truly believe that funerals should not be about the passing of the person, but a celebration of their life. So I was in charge of searching through the thousands of pictures, including the old slides, to make a digital slide show of his life, to show at the calling hours and services. We ended up with a couple of boards with snapshots attached, and three flat screens scrolling over 350 photos of his life.
It was hard at first, but as I began to find more and more pictures of his life, good memories flooded in to reinforced my belief that it is all about the life, not the passing. I truly believe Kevin lived a good one. As a family we traveled frequently taking annual and numerous other vacations. Kevin, his two brothers and the wife I spent a month traveling the Rockies in the ?94. We had traveled all over the east coast and Canada numerous times. As a family we skied and motorcycled, we even took the entire family to the Alps to ride in 2004 for two weeks. I reflected and realized that even though he was with us a short time, we squeezed out more than many would in several life times. No, we were not wealthy, but we were frugal and rather than spend money on the material goods, invested in the family. The wife and I both agree, particularly in retrospect, that this was one of the best decisions we made in our lives.
Those here know the dangers of riding, in fact a few times when others have expressed concern about letting other family members take up this sport, I was always an advocate. In spite of living through what people fear most, I still am. I will say it again, motorcycling was, and still is, one of the threads that bind the fabric of our family. I truly believe that in spite of the recent events, I still am ahead.
Kevin was the eldest, and as children inevitably do, set out to start his own life. Many times contact with the family diminishes greatly, as they forge their own life and pick their way through life, and although this was the case at times, we stayed close because of our shared affection for riding. Kevin had his motorcycle license before his car license, and always loved riding. In his adult life we took numerous day and weekend trips, did several track days together, shared the social aspect of riding with a bunch of people from the area, and of course took our last ?Family Vacation? when we all went to Europe to ride in 2004. None of this would have happened without the shared interest in two wheels.
At the funeral we had a line out the door for three hours straight, and standing room only at the service, so we have lots of support. We didn?t want to deal with a big gathering after the burial, so we delayed it and kept that to immediate family and his best friends from school. At the suggestion of his ex-wife, and in total agreement with us, his brothers, and his current companion, we all went to a real Irish pub, tipped a few Guinness?s, reminisced his life, learned more details from his HS buddies, of the escapades during his HS days. We all had a great time, and all know that is just what he would have wanted, and where he would be, if the shoe was on the other foot. My wife even commented to the youngest boy?s today, that when her time comes, we need to find a great pub, and repeat the event.
I am sure as we start to slow down, it will hit us, it is inevitable, but we still have a very close family and two young children that we need to help raise. Again I take solace in the fact that we had lots of good times, while at the same time feeling sorry for those that were fairly new in his life, as they have lost their chance to do the same.
I truly appreciate, and thank everyone for your concern. Family and friends have, and will continue to, help us work through this. My best advice is to keep those important relationships close, you never know when you might not get a chance to do so in the future.
Thanks again.
Richard & Cecilia
Most did not know him, but here is a view into his life.
Guess he came by it naturally.
Good times traveling and growing.
The Europe trip.
Having fun
Being responsible.
His Legacy, for those left behind to give them the best life possible.
