Love,

John

We’re thinking about you on your birthday and remembering the special person that you were.

Love,

John

Nothing would stop David and DeDe from camping.  I remember in the late 90s we went on a SCUBA trip to Mulege where we would camp on the beach.  Luke was just an infant, but that didn’t stand in the way of anything!

One day, I was taking a nap in my palapa after diving and she put Luke right next to me as I was sleeping and took a picture.  Luke kept quiet and I didn’t know a thing until I saw the picture.  Good joke!

The picture here is a scan from a print, so I don’t know when or where it was taken, but it looks like it’s from the mid 90s.

Happy 47th Birthday DeDe! This picture was taken when she first started teaching school and a very important part of her mission in life. Actually she was a great influence on me as her mother from the day she was born. She was rather shy at a young age and in was such a thrill for me to bear witness to her blossoming! The flowers in my garden of memories continue to bloom and bring a light and love to my life! My heart continues to break at losing her so soon but each day I give thanks to God for the “GIFT”! I will love you forever! Mom

Please support the shop and think of them when you need instruction, travel, equipment or tank fills.  Here is a link to the web site: Santa Cruz Scuba Diving.  The new owners are Charlie and Jayme Cooper.  Stop by to say hi!

They really loved my daughter and I’m glad they had a chance to meet her.  It will be hard as my daughter grows up and I would want to share her special moments with them.  Ryan in particular loved babies and he loved my daughter.  He got to feed her when she was a month old.  He commented that she was “sooo cute.”

Today I edited a video they shot on May 29, 2011.  It was a day trip they made to Death Valley where they climbed the sand dunes and then tumbled down.  It helps me remember what fun people they were.  In the video you can hear DeDe saying to David, “Hi my love!” and he responds, “Hi Sweet Pea!”  You can discern the love they had for each other by the tone of their voice.  You can also see David’s genuine, enthusiastic smile.

To watch the video, you need QuickTime installed.  The HD version might take a while to download.

Click here to watch in high definition.
Click here to watch in standard definition.

David can be heard barking like a seal as he loved to do.  Luke had found a fire hat and you could see that he was enjoying himself as he tumbled down the dunes.  DeDe isn’t in the video because she was shooting, but you can hear her sweet voice.  Near the end of the video you can see Ryan run up on David and Luke and it looks like David is pointing out rock formations.  Ryan gave his dad a hug from behind.  At the very end, DeDe comments, “You can’t go far without a geology lesson.”

Tomorrow will be a hard day.  There are no events that I know of and that’s fine with me.  I don’t want to plan anything because running the event keeps me from thinking of them.  Tomorrow I’ll be in Santa Cruz and I want to think of them.

I think this blog site for my brother’s family should have it’s own special spot, so I’ll register a new URL and migrate the blog.  Don’t worry, I’ll put a forwarding link so you can get there from here.

Thanks for letting me share.  In writing this, I feel like I got in touch with my feelings and I got to relive memories of them.  Please share your comments below.

A random photo of Ryan taking a bath.

A classic quote from David.

They first noticed each other when she decided that she wanted to learn to Scuba dive and went to Aqua Safaris. They both caught the others eyes almost immediately but David did not mix business with pleasure….that is until DeDe came along, finished her training and became a diver.  From the start their lives blended into this relationship of respect, individuality and love for life and adventures.  On August 17, 1996 they were married at the Brookdale Lodge in the Santa Cruz mountains.  The setting was beautiful as were the bride and groom.  They were surrounded by those friends and family closest to them and their glow was never ending.  They lived their entire married life in their home in Santa Cruz except for the year in Mulege while building their home there.  They planned to spend a lot more time there and were looking forward to more frequent visits with the plane and flying.

Their love is almost of story book quality, both were handsome and beautiful people, both had fantastic smiles that embraced their faces especially when they looked at each other.  She was his “Sweetpea” and he was her “My Love,” they were both secure in that they had chosen well, and entered into their marriage with promises to each to last a lifetime.  They were both full of energy, and caring that preceded them in whatever they wanted to do.  To know them was to love them which has been apparent throughout their time with us.

August 17, 2011 they would have been celebrating their 15th wedding anniversay, but their untimely and tragic deaths prevented that.  I feel that this day should be celebrated by those of who attended their wedding or have shared their lives in this fifteen years.  They accomplished so much in that time:

Expanding Aqua Safaris, giving birth to two extraordinary young boys Luke 13 and Ryan 10.  To say that the family was the most important to them is an understatement.  They were the center of their lives and the rest of the world revolved around this family.  The friends that they gathered along the way, enriched them and gave them more fuel to love with a greater capacity.  They were teachers in the greatest sense, and knowing them has taught us all much about living, loving, caring and sharing.

They were not much on material possessions, but gathered their treasures on their wonderful trips, whether it was to foreign countries, within the states, to the beach, or Disneyland.  Some times they went just the four of them, but many times they shared with us lucky friends and family. Many people live a lifetime and never get to visit places like Egypt, Thailand, Figi, Mexico, Bonaire, Africa, Indonesia, China, Japan, Hawaii and I am sure I have left out many.  What busy lives they lived and each day to the fullest.  Always growing in self and their accomplishments.  In the last few years while DeDe took over most of Aqua Safaris, David finished his training and opened his own Environmental/Geology business.  They were both hard workers and valued their success.  During all of this they accomplished so much in the birth and upbringing of Luke and Ryan.  There was not much that came into their lives that they were not encouraged to take part in.  It is sad that we will not be witnessing the greatness that was ahead for each of these young men.

So today, as we think of David and De De, lets celebrate on the terrific people, couple and family that we were blessed in knowing.  May they be celebrating their love in a very special way and may they all know how much they are missed and how very much they are loved.  I have been so proud of my daughter and David, they have shared with and taught me much for which I will always be so thankful and blessed.  This story does have a happy ending as they are all together and that is how it was meant to be.  Happy Anniversary my loves I can still see you both on your special wedding day!  Love Mom

I was driving home on the freeway from a client meeting yesterday and it hit me.  It was an awful feeling of sadness and loss, plus a sick feeling in my stomach.  I really miss them.

Today is their wedding anniversary.  I remember their wedding day, August 17, 1996.  David had me as his best man.  Luckily, we still have their wedding video.  I’m in the process of digitizing it.  I watched it a few weeks ago.  Everybody was so happy and young.  I wish I could go back to that day.

As a wedding party gift, David gave me a stainless steel flask with their wedding date inscribed on it.  I never thought it would become such a precious momento.  The best thing to remember them by is to look around their house at the pictures on their walls.  Pictures of them together, laughing, smiling, loving.  They were so happy and they loved each other deeply.  Thank you all for your comments which help us remember them.

It is nearly 4 am on August 7, 2011 and I cannot sleep and keep feeling DeDe’s presence, the house is creaking and I keep expecting the microwave oven to start.  I have been laying in her bed thinking about her and the many requests I have had from friends wanting to hear more about DeDe at a younger age.  So many memories have been racing through my mind all at once, so I decided to get up and start at the beginning.  Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures with me at this time, but will look for ones to match the stories when I go home and add them later.

It was 7:10 pm on April 4, 1967, I was in Fort Ord Military hospital (the old hospital) and had just given birth to a beautiful little girl.  She weighed 7 lbs. 2 oz. and was 20 inches long.  She was born like most babies with very blue eyes, but hers were so dark we knew she would soon have brown eyes like mine.  At that time fathers could be in the labor room but absolutely not allowed in the delivery rooms.  I remember when Andy came into the room after she was in the nursery and he said she was perfect in every way.  She had the perfectly round head (like Ryan but smaller) and some hair, though dark.  Her big brother Mitch was 2 1/2 years old and in the 60′s Batman was a big television star and one of his favorite programs.  He would run through the house pretending to fly while yelling Diddle, Diddle, Diddle, Diddle….Batman.  On the 5th when his little sister was barely one day old Andy brought him to the nursery (he could not see me), they were standing outside the nursery window meeting for the first time his sister through the glass.  Another young father came in and was quietly viewing his newborn baby and Mitch turned and said to him, “No! that’s my Diddle De”!  The man smiled and thought that was a pretty proud brother.  He remained a very proud brother forever; early on looking out for her and she could do no wrong, until she reached the age where she could take his toys.  At first her gave over anything she wanted, then when she hit the twos he started claiming his rights.

DeDe started running just before she turned one year old.  She took very few unstable first steps (and she has been going every since).  Around her first birthday a neighbor friend gave us a bag of girlie dresses.  DeDe put on quite a fashion show for her Daddy that night, and she loved clothes.  Her first trip to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk was around that same time and somewhere I have a picture of her at a photo shot place on a wooden form of a carosel horse. Mitch was by a wooden form that made him look like he’d just caught a very big fish!

DeDe was a very happy bright eyed and smiling little girl from the very beginning.  She used to wake up when her Daddy would get up (he was in the Army) about 5:30 am and she would play in her crib while he would pop in and talk to her while getting ready for work.  I could hear her giggling but as soon as he kissed her goodbye and walked out the door, her giggles turned to a cry telling me it was time to get up!  She always knew just how to get her way and because she had a big brother who would talk for her, she was adapt at using her eyes and his words to get just about anything.  It was amazing how he knew everything she was saying and wanting. She completed our perfect family and we were all so proud of her!

I apologize for not sharing these stories earlier and hope that people are still reading the blogs and I thank you for making this request of me.  Starting over and remembering the baby girl she was is a great way to start out telling more stories about her and her life.  With love always to my special baby girl!  Mom