A Final Goodbye: A Memorial for My Son Jason

Thank you all for coming today. The Jason I know and love is probably asking his heavenly Father for permission right now to"just go say hi to all my friends." Most of you are here today because you are his friends. Some who have not known him well are here because you love us or because Jason's life or death had touched you in some way. I would like to introduce you the Jason the rest of us know so well.

Jason loved living life. He lived it with intensity. He crammed into it all the joy and activity he could. Because he loved it so much, he wanted it for everyone. He spoke out against abortion and participated in every Walk for Life he knew about. He has always been thankful that his birth mother cooperated with God in giving him the miracle of life.

Jason loved everything God made. All of creation was his playground. He love to climb trees, mountains, and rock jetties. He liked surfing in the ocean, digging in beach sand, kyacking on lakes and rivers, swimming, snorkeling, panning for gold in the river, riding speedboats and hovercraft, and, finally, jet skis, across the water.





He delighted in anything with wheels. He always loved bikes, and finally this past June, got the mountain bike he had wanted for so long. He was hoping to earn his cycling badge before school started. As he passed through the phases of his short life he rode his first "bikey" at age five, and progressed to scooters, BMX, and 10 speeds. When he was about ten be began to roller-skate, and as soon as we let him, he began to travel with his ever-present skateboard. When he was about twelve, Terry (his fireman friend) gave him "putt Putt," a motor scooter made from a lawn mower engine. He would walk it the three blocks to the church, put on his helmet, and ride it all over the church grounds. He would let his friends ride it, too. Then, on his last Christmas, came roller-blades, and, finally, his mountain bike. Had he lived, he was planning to rebuild my VW bug with Kosta.

Jason was imaginative and creative in using tools and building things. He and his friend Danny Hart, built the "Hart Cart" to pull with a bicycle. They also built one of the most interesting tree houses you've ever seen (See it partially built below.). Kosta taught him to change the oil in our cars, tune them, and make other repairs. They have put in vinyl floors, fixed windows, worked on plumbing and electrical repairs, and painted together. The day before he died he had just learned to use the spray painter and when he got the hang of it, he told Kosta they ought to start a K and J Construction Company.


Jason was fascinated with building and construction. He used to get up at 6:30 every week morning and bike down to a local construction area for new homes so he could be on the site when the workman arrived. He liked to chat with them while they drank their coffee. He watched everything they did, learned their names, and was thrilled when ever they let him help in any way. He was crushed the day the foreman appeared and told him that because of liability laws he would have to do his watching from the sidewalk. He could name all the machinery. He knew what it did. And he was excited to see each phase of the construction completed.

Jason did not wait for formal introductions to people. If he was out riding his bike or his skateboard around the neighborhood and saw someone doing something interesting in a yard or garage, he'd stop and get acquainted. The next thing I knew he'd be telling me about his new friend. That's why Jason had friends of all ages....

Jason was also a friend to animals. I'm sure he knew every dog in the vicinity of our neighborhood by name, and if any of them got loose, he'd bring them home for safe keeping until their owners got home from work and he could return them. He loved to play with kittens, and became a special friend of the Loseys' cat, Kalua..One dream about to be realized was our move to Templeton to a 14-acre property where he would get his first puppy, and, perhaps later, a horse. He liked to observe the wild critters, too -- especially deer, possums, and squirrels. Once on a hike on Catalina Island he even petted a bison.

Jason with Kalua



Jason loved people. He was generous in giving whenever he saw a need. He liked to share with his friends. He tithed his earnings to help hungry people and his church. Though he was a tease, and sometimes overdid it, he blamed it on Kosta and his grandpa, both of whom set an example in that area.Sometimes he visited the neighbors a bit too often and might have been somewhat of a pest. Sometimes he bugged us and we had wished he would stop. Now I'll kind of miss it. But he was also compassionate and helpful, and wanted to cheer up anyone who seemed to need it....

Jason has lived in many homes. We met him when he lived next door to us with the Tyree family as a foster child. I met him the same way many of you did. I was working in my front yard and he watched me and asked what I was doing.Then God allowed us to adopt Jason into our family, and his home was with us. When Jason became a Christian, he, like all believers, was adopted into God's family. And now he lives in his eternal home with his Heavenly Father. His other homes were all temporary. Now he is in his permanent home. We'll never have to wonder again where he is. We'll never have to worry any more about whether he'll get hurt. God took him home with less pain and trauma than he's suffered from lesser accidents in his own neighborhood.

If you knew Jason, you know how he could never seem to stay with the group. On hikes he always seemed to run ahead. He was more often early than late. He liked to be the first to discover something wonderful, new, or exciting, and then run to tell his friends about it. We used to call him our little P.A. system, and thought maybe he should consider being a news announcer or reporter.

Well, folks, he's done it again. He's run on ahead of us and discovered wonders even his imagination could not have dreamed up. I know he'd love to tell us about it. He'd like to tell us all the new things he's learned about his friend Jesus, and he'd like you to meet him if you haven't. He can't come back to us. But you can meet Jesus the way he did

My dear brother Jason,

I had such a great pain in my soul for you. you were and still are so special to me. I have loved you so much, even though at times I couldn't express it. i wanted to do so very much with you. I wanted to have a really deep friendship with you as you got older. Now this cannot be and I cry. For I feel such a loss. You are never going to be forgotten. You are in my heart and the memory of you -- of us together as brother and sister -- will be cherished above all. I know you are happy now and will be fine wherever you are or wherever you go. I can feel a peace inside myself -- from you, I believe. But I cannot help but miss you and I know I will until we meet again.

You're ahead of us all, my dear brother. You always are.

I love you.
Sarah Lynn
Sis

Above you see Kosta, who is sharing his view of the God Jason knew. Unfortunately, Kosta never writes out what he's going to say, so I don't have a copy to share with you here.

Next to Kosta sits Gordon Van Enk, who was the main pastoral speaker. He had recently retired as the pastor of the Crenshaw Christian Reformed Church in Los Angeles, our former church. We invited him to speak because we knew it would be a hard task for Steve Davis, in whose arms Jason died, to do the job.

Many friends also shared memories of Jason, including scoutmasters, church members, and peers. Some of the closest could not speak, but the tears in their eyes spoke volumes.