As I sit back here and look back at the week before Derek’s passing, I try to recall all the fun things that happened that week. I look back on a day-by-day basis.
Sunday – Derek played in his last baseball game ever. In his final game, and his final at-bat, he was drilled in the left elbow by the pitcher from Bases Loaded Academy. I was standing on the fence by the on-deck circle when it happened and I sprinted right out. As I got to him, he was in terrible pain. I told Derek “I know it hurts buddy and I am sorry that you are in pain. Right now what I need you to do is hold your head up high, don’t hold your arm, and run down to first. When you get there if you need a runner I want you to nod and then I will send one out.” Derek stood up, sprinted to first and as he got there he nodded his head and we sent a runner over. As Derek got back to the dugout the tears started flowing and I held him tight and then handed him off to Brandee. That was the last baseball he ever played. When we buried him a week and a half later, the bruise was still on his arm.
Monday – Monday was his first day of summer school. He was excited to go, just like every day of school as Derek loved to learn. As we have learned, Brynn was also excited as she was in his class. :-)
Tuesday – I took the entire baseball team to the Madison Mallards game. I worked it out ahead of time that one kid would get to play the hitting game where they run the bases and another would get to do the human bowling against the bullpen pitchers. I got the entire team hats and we were on the field and announced before the game. I threw out the first pitch. Was a very interesting time. Keola Cullen got to hit off the tee and slid into home at the end. When it came time for the human bowling, we went out and sat in the bullpen with the pitchers. Derek thought it was amazing. He asked the pitchers a bunch of questions and they interacted with him wonderfully. Then it came time to bowl. On the first attempt he missed the pitchers, but on the second, he hit them and then they weebled and wobbled and came tumbling down for a spare! Was so great to see his smile. On the drive home, Austin Horn and Derek sat in the back seat laughing non-stop. They were pulling their sweatshirts over their heads and “tooting” or something. Many stories can be told from the drive home. But they had a blast at the game and on the ride home.
Wednesday-Friday – There is nothing really different than summer school. No memories that stood out. We had purchased Derek’s gifts for his birthday, a ripstick and an Ipod Touch, and were preparing for the joint birthday party at the pool on Saturday.
Saturday-Allergy Walk – We woke up early to drive to Madison to help support the Nelsons in the allergy walk. Rhi has a nut allergy, so we went there and supported their family by walking with them. Was a beautiful morning. We met John Stoffet from Channel 15 and tried some interesting allergy free foods. I will admit peanut butter tastes better with peanuts. :-) After the event we hustled home.
Saturday-Birthday Party – We had rented out the pool for the kids’ birthday party. They invited a bunch of their friends. Derek was an amazing swimmer and so daring off the boards. That afternoon I spent a lot of time throwing kids, in the water, to see how far they would go. This day sticks out a lot because of what I finally got Derek to do. All this time I have been telling him he could do a 1 1/2 off of the diving board and he finally tried it and succeeded. To be honest, he could have done a 2. He was that good. But we had a wonderful time at the pool and we had a huge cake for them and tons of friends to celebrate.
Saturday-Evening Party – What I forgot to mention was that before we went to the pool, we noticed a bunch of bees in the yard. When we got home, that turned in to thousands of bees. An entire colony had followed a new queen to a branch on our tree. We spent the night with lots of friends as we called a beekeeper to remove them. The night was caught on film by Robert Callahan. What Brandee will remember the most is that night Derek dressed up in a werewolf costume and bit Brandee saying she was Team Jacob now. Brandee is Team Edward. But the entire day was wonderful. You couldn’t ask for a better day. One of the best we have ever had as a family actually.
Sunday-Morning – We went to church as normal, but this tie, our family was signed up for basically every item. We greeted, ushered and read that day. The reason I bring this up, is this is the first time that Derek ushered for communion. Many people commented that day on how wonderful of a job he did and how he was always looking to me to make sure he was doing it right. It was a very proud day at church for us. I was very proud of Derek.
I won’t share the happenings from the rest of the day as they haunt me daily. What started out as a wonderful week, ended so tragically. These moments are all that I have left, but I will look back and smile at the good times we shared. Derek was a wonderful child. I have missed him dearly. I just wanted to share his final week with everyone. Thank you.
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