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Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Memories of Peter
Do you have any memories of Peter you would like to share? Please share them in the comments here.
I remember watching movies with Peter. "The Land Before Time," "Fantasia," and "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." He especially loved the dinosaur and shark scenes in "Fantasia."
Peter watched "Fantasia" over and over as a little kid. He not only watched it but acted out the dinosaur scene with the T-rex. He tiptoed around the living room with his two first fingers on each hand extended imitating T-rex's smallish hands and snarled and growled along with the dinosaur on the tv screen. I have pictures to prove it! The music to this scene filled our home ad nauseum!! He also loved the "Night on Bald Mountain" scene with the demons flying around and the violins screeching. He sure was a kid with an imagination!
I remembered something that happened when we were in Newport Beach the summer of 2007 with Carolyn's family for a week. Peter had taken his katana sword which is a long, curved japanese samurai type sword. One morning very early Peter took his sword down to the beach and was going through his samurai paces which are very slow and controlled and look almost like dance moves because they are so graceful. I was just coming back from a walk on the beach when I saw that a policeman was talking to him. I thought, uh oh, trouble. I was right. He was in trouble for having a weapon on the beach. He was trying to have a cinematic type moment on the beach with the waves crashing in on the sand and the sun coming up and instead he got busted! The policeman was very nice but when he found out it was a real sword and indeed very sharp he had no choice but to stop him. Lucky I came along when I did. He just asked Peter to cease and desist and didn't do anything more. Peter loved that sword and cared for it lovingly with a special kit he bought. He let noone else unsheath it. That is the true samurai way. I miss you Peter, every day. I'll love you always!
James is playing a video game called "The Legend of Zelda" and I can hear the music and sound effects. It was Peter's favorite game in the whole world since he started playing video games. He waited anxiously for every new version of the game that came out. On sundays I would hear him playing the latest version on his Wii in the family room, the character Link wading through water or fishing, or fighting with his sword. He was so obsessed with the game that he tried to figure out how to play the different tunes from the game on the piano and on his clarinet when he was younger. He had a CD of the music, too. Link was a big part of his life for a long time.
Here is an email that we received from Cal, Greg's brother-in-law. He is the one who is a psychologist and spoke at the funeral:
Yesterday, (April 29th) I did my first speaking assignment for the Jason Foundation, which was set up months ago. Because of my position, with my company, they have asked me to be one of their regional speakers (Colorado) on preventing teenage suicide. The Jason Foundation (www.jasonfoundation.org) is one of the Nations largest most recognized organizations for the prevention of teenage suicide.
I spoke to over 35 youth and 9 adults on suicide prevention and what they "youth" can do to increase the chance of preventing a friend from committing suicide.
Sue told me, just before I spoke, it was Peter's Birthday. I don't believe it was luck or chance that I spoke to a bunch of youth on preventing teenage suicide on the day your son Peter was born. A way to celebrate his birth and recognize his death, is to prevent others from taking their life. I dedicated my training that day to Peter.
It was another of those minor miracles, The Lord gives us, to show us he's in charge, and knows us all personally.
I remember how much Micah enjoyed having Peter come to visit us in Colorado Springs - they did so many things together. It was great for Micah, since his only brother was 7 1/2 years older and rarely wanted to hang out with him at that time. It gave me a chance to get to know Peter a little better, too, since he was always so quiet around me before that. We miss him so much.
I remember when Peter was little and he would play 'make-believe' either with figurines like Playmobile or live action with himself and Ben, he would try and portray his story as accurately as possible: with sets, costumes, props and he would even sing his own background/theme music which was different for each scene he was acting out. I love you so much, Peter. I really hope you know this. -Your Sister, emily
Peter holds a special place in my heart in part because I believe we both have had some similar struggles to varying degrees. I can remember there was a time when I was doing some babysitting for suzy and greg, and playing with Peter was always something I looked forward to. One thing I will never forget is his infectious laugh. He would try to laugh so hard sometimes his veins in his neck would strain and his eyes would squint in such a way that couldn't help but make you want to join right in with him. I have been reminded of that time and again when I see other children laugh. It always brings a smile to my face when think of him in that way. And I can't help but just laugh out loud when I think of a couple of other times when I was either babysitting or when we had family get togethers and he would take the stick of butter on the table and proceed to eat it as if it were a snickers bar. I hope he grew out of that later in life but wouldn't hold it against him if he still snuck a bite or two in his teenage years. I wish I had known him better as he grew older and hope that he knows he is thought of fondly and loved despite that. -niels
I remember watching movies with Peter. "The Land Before Time," "Fantasia," and "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." He especially loved the dinosaur and shark scenes in "Fantasia."
ReplyDeletePeter watched "Fantasia" over and over as a little kid. He not only watched it but acted out the dinosaur scene with the T-rex. He tiptoed around the living room with his two first fingers on each hand extended imitating T-rex's smallish hands and snarled and growled along with the dinosaur on the tv screen. I have pictures to prove it! The music to this scene filled our home ad nauseum!! He also loved the "Night on Bald Mountain" scene with the demons flying around and the violins screeching. He sure was a kid with an imagination!
ReplyDeleteI remembered something that happened when we were in Newport Beach the summer of 2007 with Carolyn's family for a week. Peter had taken his katana sword which is a long, curved japanese samurai type sword. One morning very early Peter took his sword down to the beach and was going through his samurai paces which are very slow and controlled and look almost like dance moves because they are so graceful. I was just coming back from a walk on the beach when I saw that a policeman was talking to him. I thought, uh oh, trouble. I was right. He was in trouble for having a weapon on the beach. He was trying to have a cinematic type moment on the beach with the waves crashing in on the sand and the sun coming up and instead he got busted! The policeman was very nice but when he found out it was a real sword and indeed very sharp he had no choice but to stop him. Lucky I came along when I did. He just asked Peter to cease and desist and didn't do anything more. Peter loved that sword and cared for it lovingly with a special kit he bought. He let noone else unsheath it. That is the true samurai way. I miss you Peter, every day. I'll love you always!
ReplyDeleteJames is playing a video game called "The Legend of Zelda" and I can hear the music and sound effects. It was Peter's favorite game in the whole world since he started playing video games. He waited anxiously for every new version of the game that came out. On sundays I would hear him playing the latest version on his Wii in the family room, the character Link wading through water or fishing, or fighting with his sword. He was so obsessed with the game that he tried to figure out how to play the different tunes from the game on the piano and on his clarinet when he was younger. He had a CD of the music, too. Link was a big part of his life for a long time.
ReplyDeleteHere is an email that we received from Cal, Greg's brother-in-law. He is the one who is a psychologist and spoke at the funeral:
ReplyDeleteYesterday, (April 29th) I did my first speaking assignment for the Jason Foundation, which was set up months ago. Because of my position, with my company, they have asked me to be one of their regional speakers (Colorado) on preventing teenage suicide. The Jason Foundation (www.jasonfoundation.org) is one of the Nations largest most recognized organizations for the prevention of teenage suicide.
I spoke to over 35 youth and 9 adults on suicide prevention and what they "youth" can do to increase the chance of preventing a friend from committing suicide.
Sue told me, just before I spoke, it was Peter's Birthday. I don't believe it was luck or chance that I spoke to a bunch of youth on preventing teenage suicide on the day your son Peter was born. A way to celebrate his birth and recognize his death, is to prevent others from taking their life. I dedicated my training that day to Peter.
It was another of those minor miracles, The Lord gives us, to show us he's in charge, and knows us all personally.
I just wanted to share with the both of you.
Love
Cal
I remember how much Micah enjoyed having Peter come to visit us in Colorado Springs - they did so many things together. It was great for Micah, since his only brother was 7 1/2 years older and rarely wanted to hang out with him at that time. It gave me a chance to get to know Peter a little better, too, since he was always so quiet around me before that. We miss him so much.
ReplyDeleteI remember when Peter was little and he would play 'make-believe' either with figurines like Playmobile or live action with himself and Ben, he would try and portray his story as accurately as possible: with sets, costumes, props and he would even sing his own background/theme music which was different for each scene he was acting out. I love you so much, Peter. I really hope you know this.
ReplyDelete-Your Sister,
emily
Peter holds a special place in my heart in part because I believe we both have had some similar struggles to varying degrees. I can remember there was a time when I was doing some babysitting for suzy and greg, and playing with Peter was always something I looked forward to. One thing I will never forget is his infectious laugh. He would try to laugh so hard sometimes his veins in his neck would strain and his eyes would squint in such a way that couldn't help but make you want to join right in with him. I have been reminded of that time and again when I see other children laugh. It always brings a smile to my face when think of him in that way. And I can't help but just laugh out loud when I think of a couple of other times when I was either babysitting or when we had family get togethers and he would take the stick of butter on the table and proceed to eat it as if it were a snickers bar. I hope he grew out of that later in life but wouldn't hold it against him if he still snuck a bite or two in his teenage years. I wish I had known him better as he grew older and hope that he knows he is thought of fondly and loved despite that.
ReplyDelete-niels