I saw him last a week before his death. He and my dad came to my house to drive the kids and I to Pine Valley for a little mountain escape. He and my dad teased each other the whole way up. I remember how happy they were together--how lucky my dad was to have his best friend live close by at last.
When we got to Pine Valley, Eliana found an old Barbie doll (with no head). My dad hunted around upstairs and found her head. Eliana was thrilled, and showed the finished product to Spencer. "Look Spencer, it's Barbie!" Spencer got a mischievous look on his face and replied, "No, it's Fred!" She jumped right in, "No, you're Fred!" They playfully bantered back and forth for a good half hour. Throughout the day the debate would resurface and they both would laugh.
At one point my dad and Eliana went out to play on the back porch. Spencer talked with me about how much he loved his job and the kids he worked with. He said it was like being around 26 Ian and J.C.s (his son). He told me how proud he was of JC, and how parenting was so worthwhile, even though it's hard.
I am so glad I got to spend time with him that day. It was a great comfort to me to know that he died at a point where he was satisfied with his life, and felt worthwhile. He made his peace with the world.
We held a memorial service on Saturday, complete with an honorary motorcycle ride up Snow Canyon. Here are some pictures.
Spencer, I miss you, and hope you're enjoying ridin' on high!
6 comments:
I'm sorry for your loss...but we know that he is in the best place ever right now!! I'm glad that you are at peace with it and have such a positive attitude about it even though it is painful! You are a great person Shauna! Tell Darryl "hi" from me!
Love you guys!
Sorry to hear about your loss. It is never easy to lose someone. Looks like it was a great memorial service - you got some great pictures to remember it by.
Yeah, I think the service up here was not quite the same as this one. How much do I have to pay Dave Nutter to speak at my funeral?
thanks for the great post and pictures. it was good to see you again and meet your nice husband. thanks again--
nicole
So sad. I got to spend a tiny bit of time with Spencer when he was living with Grandma-- we had fun watching Simpsons together. Sad.
I am sorry to hear of your family's loss. He sounds like he was a great guy. His service looked really cool too - I wish more services were like that.
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