The Andy Blog: On this rainy, foggy winter day we mark the 11th anniversary of Andy’s death. The weather is a vivid picture of my heart today: chilly and heavy. I have been feeling the gravity of this day all week and I guess I wasn’t expecting it, at least not to this degree. People ask if the pain ever gets better. I know that it does for most of the year but on those special days — birthday, Christmas (which Andy loved so much) and today — it seems I get sucked back in time to that most horrible of all days. I can walk through that Sunday moment by moment remembering with great clarity almost every thought, every encounter and still feel the same emotions with the same intensity as I did that day. Dianne has a plaque hanging in the kitchen which says "We don’t remember days, we remember moments." I my particular case this is true but I am remembering almost enough of these moments to make a day.
Of all the pictures we have of Andy (and I have looked at a lot today) this one probably says as much as any about his love for life. Andy had been decorating Christmas cookies to take to kids at church and school. If the cookies look so good with icing, why not decorate himself? And of course he did. And he loved every minute of it. This was probably the week before he began celebrating eternity with his heavenly Father. Andy, we laugh with you and we still miss you very much!
Of all the pictures we have of Andy (and I have looked at a lot today) this one probably says as much as any about his love for life. Andy had been decorating Christmas cookies to take to kids at church and school. If the cookies look so good with icing, why not decorate himself? And of course he did. And he loved every minute of it. This was probably the week before he began celebrating eternity with his heavenly Father. Andy, we laugh with you and we still miss you very much!
4 comments:
Yes I do still miss him and his antics! I remember the night this picture was taken. It was Thanksgiving weekend and Andy and I had gone to Wal-Mart to buy all sorts of cookie-decorating supplies. We thought we were going to turn out cookes Martha Stewart would be proud of. It was kind of a disaster at the time, but looking back it is a memory I will always treasure! What a goofball! Good post!
We only knew Andy very briefly, yet we were greatly impacted by his death. At his funeral we remember how it was noted that his mother had been planning to sing in The Messiah that Sunday, but Andy was at that moment in the presence of his Messiah. It was for John and me a profound and comforting thought. In that service we were also introduced to Q&A 1 & 2 of the Heidelberg Catechism, another source of great comfort to us over the years since then.
Mike,
What a great picture of Andy! We have such pleasant memories of Andy, too. You're in our prayers once again around the anniversary of his passing into eternity. God bless.
Thank you for sharing about Andy. Jennifer posted a sweet memorial on her blog and I read that one, too. I can't say I know how you feel, but I pray that God's grace continues to enfold you and Dianne and the rest of those whom Andy's loss has impacted.
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