Jan Hillenbrand |
Kim Blackwell |
The last few months of your life we spent every spare moment and spent every spare dollar fixing up the camper. Truth be told you actually were the one fixing up the camper, I just handed you tools. After weeks of this you said that you liked having me out there with you - talking, handing you things, and of course laughing when stuff kept breaking and we'd have to head back to Home Depot one last time for more pieces and parts. You were so driven to get this project done so we could take it out before the end of the year.
Then we were driving up to the lake to have dinner one weekend with some friends. I listed off about 10 places I wanted to go with the camper. You were nodding but real quiet. I asked where you wanted to take the camper and you said you didn't know. You hadn't thought about it. I just laughed. I couldn't believe that somebody would work that hard on something without even thinking about where they were eventually going to take it.
A week to the day after I asked you where you wanted to go you said, "I've been giving it some thought..." and rattled off a few places you wanted to take the camper in great detail. I admired your ability to just wait and think things through before you offered an answer. I miss your delayed responses.
Marie Freer |
When Kim and Eric got married, we couldn't have been happier for them. Our biggest wish for them was that they could have as close a relationship as we have had for 43 years. When we went to California for their reception, we could see how much they were in love and how compatible they were. They came to visit us in Arizona in March, and that just confirmed that our wishes were granted.
They were planning on coming over to visit in January to celebrate Kim's grandmother's 94th birthday, but had to cancel a couple of times due to health problems. Eric was sure that we thought that he didn't want to meet the relatives, and Kim asked me to tell him it was okay and that they should just plan on coming when he got better and they had the time off, which I did.
They got here on a Friday afternoon and we went out to dinner and then to the dog races, a first for Eric. The next day, we went to the Desert Botanical Gardens Butterfly Pavillion, met the relatives, played miniature golf, checked out the Cabela's Super Store, went to a movie and had pizza before going home. On Sunday morning, I took them out to Lake Pleasant so that Eric could see all of the Saguaros and the lake. He and Kim were talking about bringing their camper over and camping at the lake, and it is only about 20 miles from our house so we could spend time together. When they were ready to leave for home, Eric gave me the biggest bear hug and said he couldn't believe that we had done all of the things that we had in such a short time, and that he had really enjoyed himself.
We got to see his great sense of humor. He was taking pictures of posters of butterflies at the Pavillion and then would come over and show us his great "butterfly" pictures, and was very competative playing miniature golf. When he missed a play, he would tell us that he was showing us how "not" to do it.
That weekend is the memory that both Tim and I will always have and we know that they did have the kind of relationship that we were hoping for them. We will always cherish it, especially since it was to be last time that we would see him.
Eric was a very special person and we were so blessed to have him in our lives for such a short time. We were just getting to know him and he will be missed. We are so thankful that Kim has such a great group of friends and Eric's family to support her when she needs it since we don't live close by, but she knows we are only a phone call away.
Cara Bethe |
Good Times! |