From Rob:
Little Bro,
Where do I start? My head is spinning wondering why the closest person in my life was taken from this planet. My entire life is filled with memories of us and the future plans we had together. I remember our earliest years sharing bunk beds and having what we called “bed talks”. You would ask me all sorts of questions about life and how things worked. Of course, I did the best I could with the knowledge I had. Being in scouts together, playing soccer, or family functions you were always there. I wish there was a way to calculate the number of hours we had spent laughing together over the years. That number would be enormous. I truly admire the way you educated yourself after graduating high school. The world was your classroom. You knew life had so much to offer and you only got one shot at it. You embraced that thought and hit the ground running for your next adventure. Although I may have missed you when you were gone; I always looked forward to getting the updated emails from your adventures.
I was so happy when you came home this past spring and moved up to my house. I knew you would love it as much as I did. Every weekend I would pull into the driveway and there you were sitting relaxed reading your book. You always looked at peace. You found home! We spoke about how unstable this world has become and how we should make our home a safe haven for our loved ones. You spent thousands of dollars on a green house that would produce vegetables all year long. I couldn’t believe it when you told me you wanted to take out a $30,000 loan to make the house solar-powered. Or after your death when mom and I discovered the thousands of dollars you loaned to various friends in need. You were always there for everyone. You and I made such a great team. You did the research and I swung the hammer. It was nice to hear you say you were thinking of settling down for a while after survival school. I didn’t really worry much about this next adventure although I really didn’t know much about it. I remember you telling me that everything we needed to survive was right outside our back door and you were going to learn how to do it. You exact words “Back to the basics;” once again learning how to provide for your loved ones if ever needed. I had no doubt in your abilities to finish this course. Little did we all know that it would be the lack of abilities of others that would take you from us!
Dave, your room still remains as it was. Your car sits peacefully under a cover in my yard. And every morning I wake up there is this never-ending knot in the pit of my stomach knowing I’ll never see you again in my lifetime! This is a huge loss for so many people that knew and loved you and so many more that would have eventually known and loved you. I have to believe that you’re off on another one of your adventures waiting patiently for me to catch up. One day I will and we’ll pick up exactly where we left off. That will be a great day!
You’re with me till the end!
-Big Bro