We often tell stories of Andrew – not in the past, but in the present.  We often say “if Andrew where here…”  or  “you know Andrew would do this or that if he were here.”  It is our way of holding onto the memories of him as well as keeping him in the forefront of our minds, as he always is.  

Just last week, Dorothy and I went to Smashburger in White Plains for the first time. Yea, we had a moment of weakness and desired a good juicy burger.  It brought back the memory that one of the last lunches I had with Andrew and Jovi was at the Five Guys in Boulder, it was the first time any of us had been to a Five Guys, although we passed it hundreds of times.   We were amazed at the size of the burgers and took pictures of them, and of ourselves, and sent them to Dorothy. We had a good time that meal, talked about Boulder and what a good time we had had for the past week or so together.

Back at Smashburger, they gave us our food and the receipt, and on the bottom of the receipt the cashier pointed out that if we go on-line with our smartphone and fill out a short survey, and we can get a free side.  So we casually ate, talked about Nicole and Andrew, and filled out the survey, got the code and I went up for our free side.  To my surprise, I got the receipt for the side, amount due was $0, but on the bottom of the new receipt was a chance to fill out another survey and get another free side!

Ok, now for those of you who knew Andrew, tell me that this would not start a long hilarious challenge for him to accumulate an entire large bag full of free sides?  Can’t you just see him saying “this is so stupid” – as he fills out another survey and gets another free side order and another receipt with the survey on it? I could picture Matt or Wally or Todd sitting at the table as Andrew piles up the free sides.  Dorothy and I sat there, smiled and laughed as we though about what our dear little boy would do.  

I hope this brings a smile to someone’s face just picturing him going back to get his numerous free sides, as he laughs and shakes his hands in disbelief.  That was Andrew.  It brought one to our faces for a time.

I got this message from Andrew back in August, 2011 – it shows his compassion and how he really loved animals:

“dad – hi can you do me a favor, well its for my friend’s dog june who’s 1 and a half and has a birth defect and needs another surgery that his family doesn’t think they can afford its real expensive,  http://www.giveforward.com/savejune-bug, that’s the site for his dog, a lot of our friends are donating a little to him and i wanted to give him something for her, i really like her and it’s the right thing to do. he’s also giving me a set of trucks for free for the other long board that i have so i can use it when I’m home, he didn’t want any money for them just for me to donate to june.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-June-Bug/137368123019122 that’s the page on facebook that you should like and if you can post something on facebook with or about it so people see, you have friends that would care about it, or possibly donate, there were a lot of anonymous donations on that site.
thanks
love you”

We of course donated to help June.  Unfortunately, on August 27, 2011, Junebug passed away.  Andrew called me from school and told me – he was very upset and I could hear it in his voice.  We talked a while about our pets and although he was happy to know they were well, the loss of a friends pet really effected him. He loved jubebug and was upset any time an animal died.  This is why one of the charities we chose for him was one to save and protect animals.

He was a funny kid as well When I posted a picture of me on a motorcycle on facebook, and said I wasn’t really going to buy one, he sent me this text:   “oh i know, not only is it about 25k but i know mommy would kill you before the bike does – lol, but its really nice”

We went to see Nicole this weekend and she told us, in a very happy and laughing manner, about her last shopping expedition with Andrew.  They went to buy sneakers together, not necessarily the same one’s, but they both needed new sneaker.  For years, Andrew had worn white sneakers, just white, several different brands, but white.  Recently he has changed that to include some colorful one’s, pairs to go skateboarding, and the fact he lived in Boulder, where everyone has some color of some sort.

After one or two stores, and looking at dozens and dozens of pairs, none of them fit what he was looking for.  The ended up in Vans.  Nicole described the wall of sneaker choices as massive, the length of the store.  Andrew walked up and down the wall and looked and looked, picked up a few pairs, inspected them, and returned them to the shelf – Nicole all this time losing her patience.  He would pick up a pair, look at it from every angel and imagine how he would look in them – just like he did with flannel shirts and blue jeans.  This went on for some time, it seems like hours the way Nicole describes it.

He finally picked out a pair – and with all the choices, all the colors, patterns, laces – he picks out a solid gray pair of sneakers.  He tries them on and looks at himself from every angle in the mirror to make sure they make the right statement about him.  We are never sure what that statement is, but I guess they made it because he bought that gray pair.  And to our surprise, Nicole purchased the same pair.

I am not sure if it came with sneakers or not, but they also got matching Vans t-shirts.  So the sneakers and t-shirts matched – which I think this was the very first time that they actually bought something that matched.  But I guess something caught Andrew’s eyes, and never to pass up the ability to buy something computer related, he also bought these cool 4″ square cardboard box PC speakers – I have been using them now for a few months.

I am happy that they had the experience together, and Nicole shared it with us while we all laughed and imagined Andrew walking up and down a row of hundreds of sneakers until he found the one that he identified with.  Solid gray, simple sneakers.

These are just a few memories of Andrew.  And unfortunately, there are no new memories of him.  What we have in our minds now, what we have pictures of, what we have thought about, that’s it.  There is nothing new, there will never be any new memories that we experienced with him, the number is set in stone and will forever be.

What we do ask, and we have really never asked his friends for much, is this.  If you have a memory or a story or a anecdote or anything about Andrew, can you please post it in the comments below?  We would love to add to our memories of him, and to be able to share stories about Andrew that we do not know yet.  I know it might be hard, for I am sure it will be hard for us to read, but this will serve as a tribute to him for others to read and share.  If it is personal, you can email it to me, or post it anonymously, but please do write something.

Thank you, Dorothy, Nicole and I really appreciate it.

I don’t know how to end this entry of memories.
I just miss my booboo so much, he touched so many lives in positive ways and he will be so missed by so many people.
I love you Andrew.
Daddy