Memories of Kevin

My nephew Kevin passed away on April 23, 2009. I was almost 13 years old when Kevin was born in August, 1963 and I have many recollections of the early years with Kevin as my family lived right up the street from where his family lived. In 1970 I moved away to attend college at the University of Missouri, Columbia and as I moved out of the house I did not see Kevin as often. We would see each other occaisionally when I returned to St. Louis, however our lives where going in different directions.

One thing tho, I never forgot my friendship with Kevin. He & I always got along great. It really didn't matter to us how long we had been seperated from one another because each time we reconnected it felt like we just picked up where we left off. There seemed to be an understanding between Kevin & myself that we were safe and secure with one another. We trusted each other.

While attending Kevin's visitation & funeral services I realized how much of my nephew's life I had missed out on due to the fact that I moved to Las Vegas, NV in 1989. When I witnessed the collage of photographs I saw the last 20 years of Kevin's life in the form of activities with his family and with his friends.

It was easy to see that Kevin was well liked as there were over 40 cars in the funeral procession and as a result many people came to pay their respects.

The purpose of this memorial is to honor Kevin and also to preserve his memory for his family & his friends.

All of us have stories involving Kevin. This blog is intended for us to share our stories of Kevin with one another. If you have any stories that you would like to share...please do so. If you have any pictures of Kevin...please send them.

Please inform one another of this memorial blog as I only have a few email addresses of everybody. Please contribute and help others that wish to contribute. Treat this as a community blog. You can subscribe to updates of this blog by clicking on posts (Atoms) at the bottom of this page and by following the simple instructions. Thanks!

Kevin & Family

This photo was taken by me on Saturday, April 4, 2009 and it was to be my last moment with my nephew, Kevin while he was alive. He passed away on April 23 at noon St. Louis time. I had flown in from Las Vegas, NV on the previous Wednesday to spend time with Kevin as he was undergoing treatment for lung cancer. It was an illness he learned about around Thanksgiving in 2008.

Each day of my visit with Kevin was a complete day as we shared each other's company. We shared many stories of our times together. On Thursday we had errands to run. The first errand was to take Kevin to the clinic where he thought he may have chemotherapy if his red blood cell count was high enough. However, after speaking to his doctor Kevin was to have another Catscan scheduled for 2 pm. In between visits to the clinic Kevin & I had lunch at Steak & Shake and then ran over to the pharmacy to place a prescription. We stopped by to visit his Mom & my sister, Mary. From there we went to Walgreens to purchase reading reading glasses for his Mom.

Again, this visit was to be the last time I would see Kevin alive. Not only was he my nephew, but he was a wonderful friend from the first time I saw him as an infant. He lived with his family just down the hill from where my family lived and as a result we shared a lot of time together during the 60's. Kevin was about 13 years than me and was like a little brother to me. I've always loved him.

My flight is soon to board to Las Vegas as I have come to the St. Louis for his funeral. I miss Kevin already and will for a long time.