That’s my late son Peter at about age 15; he’d have been 47 on 5 September 2019. He’s atop this so you can see the message on the tee-shirt, and I can tell you about it.
From about age 10 until he was a senior in high school, Peter and I went skiing in Colorado for one week of his spring break from school. Always March, either third or fourth week. Snow could be iffy but that never deterred us.
Peter died of cancer on 8 May 1999. On his 20th yahrzeit this year, I had a family-and-close- friends memorial in Minneapolis. I showed that photo as I talked about Peter and the tee-shirt that kind of defined his life. Peter was a wonderful, loving son, a caring human being, smart and athletic, full of life and adventure, but he definitely was not perfect. For example, on Halloween night, just a couple of days before I left for Peace Corps training, Peter (age 18) spent the night in jail. He’d held a kegger in the garage of the townhouse I had just sold. I’d always told him if he ever ended up in jail, he was spending the night. …
In his 26+ years, Peter experienced life to the fullest. There wasn’t much that he died wondering about. And my message to my great-nephews and -nieces and to the children of Peter’s friends was to do the same. Don’t take unnecessary, life-threatening risks, but do take advantage of opportunities that arise. Follow your dreams. Be the best that you can be today because tomorrow isn’t a given.
That’s my message to you and yours too.
At the close of the memorial, my nephew’s wife Heidi said, all the kids should have those shirts. So I had them made. And I handed them out at a family reunion in August. For the first time in years, every member of the family was together that day. It was awesome as you can see below.
Hello All from Suzi 