Marcus' post

Parker and Ethan's first day of school.  August 2010 (I think)

As we arrive at the anniversary of the death of Ethan, March 26, we will celebrate his short life with random acts of kindnesses.  We feel so very blessed to be his parents and so blessed to have shared his life.  We can't wait to see him again.  We know we will.

Marcus recorded his memories of his last day with Ethan.  Here it is (I cry more at his posts):

My Last Day With Ethan –

It’s midnight, and the start of the day that will mark one year since the death of our son Ethan. I’ve been thinking about him a lot this week, and I wanted to share events of the last day I spent with him. I consider myself very lucky: 1^st of all, I have the best boys in the whole world, and secondly, I got a day of Ethan’s last week on earth all to myself. For that, I feel truly blessed and I am touched by God’s tender mercy.

This all happened because Parker was getting to go to New York with me on a work trip, which made Ethan a little jealous so I promised him, that we would have one whole day, just me and him, to do whatever he wanted. He would get so excited about this and for over a week he pondered what we would do that day. I gave him many choices, Golfland, the zoo, Castle’s and Coasters, Amazing Jakes, Game Works, but when it came down to it, he decided he wanted to go to QT.  QT?!? If you knew my son, then you knew that QT was a wonderland for him. So I told him we would do that and then Castles and Coasters.  The day was set!

I wish I could remember every detail, but I can’t. So here it is the best that I remember. In the morning we went straight to QT. We both got those huge long doughnuts and a drink. Ethan liked the swirly ones. We then jumped on the freeway and headed for Phoenix. This is one of my best memories of the kid, after driving a ways I started asking him about school, he spouted off the names of quite a few friends and told me what the latest recess crazes were. The I asked him about girls. He was pretty silent about this. I assured him that because I was his dad, he could trust me and I wouldn’t tell any one and after some deals were made, he admitted there were TWO. One of them played soccer with him a lot and the other would sit by him at the bus stop and they would talk and tease each other. Later on I was able to meet these two special girls.  One of the girls was Native American and the other Hispanic. It touched me, that Ethan had no barriers to color or race. He really loved these two little girls.

We talked about a slew of other things that I cannot remember, but wish I could. And finally we arrived at castles and coasters. It was closed so we went to sports authority to look around.  We ended up buying Parker a pocket knife and him a ball. (of course a ball, what else) we threw that ball around in the store and then the parking lot for a bit until the park opened. We decided to do everything Minigolf, Go Carts, Bumper Boats, and the rides. He even said he might do the roller coaster.

We golfed first. We started off keeping score, but Ethan was never the one who needed competition, although he did get some of that drive from his older brother. So, half way through, we just started being crazy and laughing about everything. I think we played mostly off of the course and had the best time. Then we did the go carts. We had to drive together which was a little disappointing for him, but dad is an awesome go cart driver and we passed every kid on the track at least once. We were the bad dudes on the track that day, and I was all about impressing my son on the go-cart track. Next we did bumper boats. Ethan laughed and laughed. We chased people down together, and then chased each other. We were the last two to dock our boats. Finally the Amusement park opened and we started out riding the mini – coaster:  “The Patriot”. He loved the name of this coaster and after two times I was a little sick, but he wanted to go again. So I let him go by himself. You could tell that he felt like such a big boy waiting in line and then riding by himself. He would just ride by smiling proudly with a little wave. Then we rode the “Cyclone” (ride that goes around and around) I don’t do these anymore, so I was going to let him go on this by himself, but they don’t let kids go by themselves, so I ended up jumping in with him and away we went for way too long, just laughing our heads off. I just about squished him. After that we rode the big drop ride, which is small compared to other rides like this, but Ethan was terrified of it, but I begged and pleaded like I usually do and got him to go with me. I think we were both a little scared, but I was amazed at how brave he was. After the ride we both laughed at how scared we were and how crazy the drop was. Then, the looping coaster. He did not want to go. So I had to pull out the big guns and promised him he could play video games in the arcade directly after. We went on it and he hid in the seat the whole time. Again, so brave, Ethan was such a brave kid. So after that, we went inside to play arcade games. We must have played five rounds of air hockey, 3 of which I let him win (I swear) (and I’m so glad I did). He loved that. Then we played madden football, and then we started the ticket winning games for prizes. We both won a few tickets and near the end I let Ethan spin the big ticket wheel. For those of you who don’t know this giant wheel. It has one teeny tiny space that you can win 1000 tickets. Well, Ethan got it. He won the 1000 tickets and spent them on prizes for Parker and Madilyn and a Nerf Football for him. He was on cloud nine! I don’t think it was a coincidence that he won those tickets that day, or that we had this great day at all. We went and ate together and drove home. It was a perfect day. I wish I had spent so many more like it. I miss him so much! I love him so much! I can’t believe he had to go.

I’m so thankful for the memory of this awesome day. We spent a ton, but it was priceless and I’d do it again in a second. I’m so proud of my kids. I’m so proud of Ethan, he brought so much joy to all our lives. I never dreamed of the example he would become for me, and the motivation he would provide for me. Some day we’ll get to play together again, and I cannot wait. So, start planning what you want to do buddy, cuz when we see each other again, we’re going to party big time! I love you buddy, and I cannot wait.