From Brad and Pat
In Memory of David Bradford Buschow
“In The Blink Of An Eye”
(A Favorite Phrase used by Dave)
Our Dave was 29 years old, as of this past July 6th. The day after his birthday, Dave, his brother Rob, his grandfather, his uncle, his brother-in-law and myself, met at Lake Wallenpaupack for a day of fishing. It was a beautiful day, sunny, and a light breeze, but the fish were not interested in being caught, aside from two small Rock Bass. So our day consisted of good family comradery, with lots of smiles and many laughs.
Dave wasn’t into the sport of fishing, however he did drown one minnow, on the end of his line, for about six hours. Dave did enjoy soaking up the sun and eventually, became highly involved in one of his favorite sports, eating. It was lunch time and I provided the lunches. Dave had specially ordered a 12 inch turkey hoagie, with lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and some American cheese. I had some trouble carrying Dave’s sandwich, but I made it to the boat with it and we used it for ballast, until it was time to eat. If you know Dave, you know the ballast didn’t last long. Our day drew to a close, but prior to leaving the lake area, Dave and Rob stopped at our lake home. We had a birthday present for both Rob and Dave, as it was also Rob’s birthday a few days before. We all enjoyed a birthday drink, had a few laughs and then the guys left for their home.
I called Dave on Monday evening, July 10th., because I had thought that he was leaving the next day for his survival training course. Needless to say, my advanced age and declining short term memory had made a mistake, as Dave was not leaving until the following Saturday. Well, I said my take cares, have fun and be carefuls anyway, not knowing that those words were to be the last I would say to my son.
Saturday the 15th. arrived and the family took Dave to the airport for his trip to Utah. Dave had signed up for a impact survival course given by the “Boulder Outdoor Survival School”, in a remote region of the state. By Sunday the 16th., Dave had received his orientation and was embarking on his journey, with other survival students.
On Monday, the 17th., it was a terribly hot day. Reportedly, Dave and his companions had started a multi-mile decent into a ravine, in the late afternoon or early evening. When they reached the bottom of the ravine, Dave sat down to rest. In the blink of an eye, Dave could not breathe, in the blink of an eye, Dave’s heart had stopped beating. The supervising guides who were with the students, had reportedly attempted CPR on Dave, but to no avail. Dave had passed, I think the world should have stopped at that moment, to recognize the passing of this special soul, but we know that doesn’t happen and life goes on. Little did I or the family know what had occurred, at that moment in Utah, or that our lives had just changed forever.
The family was notified of this tragedy hours later, probably in the early morning hours of Tuesday, July 18th.. I received my phone call around 7AM. Prior to this call, my life’s concerns revolved around things, things I thought were important; when was the contractor going to fix my wall, when would the plumber be here to fix my HVAC system, could we afford another tax increase. In the blink of an eye, I had received word of Dave’s passing and that freight train of terrible reality, smashed through the phone and my heart, and I knew my life had changed. I know we all prayed that this was a mistake, but that was not meant to be.
Dave died doing what he had wanted to do and I believe much of his life was like that, doing what he wanted. Dave was a beautiful free and restless spirit, there was always something on the horizon for him. I truly believe that his philosophy was one of, “Living Well, Laughing Often, and Loving Much”.
Dave’s life and demise, sends us a message: Life is about living, not things. Cherish your friends and love your family. Live each day to it’s fullest, because in the blink of an eye, there may be no tomorrow.
I won’t go on about what a wonderful person, friend, and son Dave was, because all of you, his friends and family, have been touched by his life and know what he was. However, I must tell you, when I think of Dave, I think of a song, I believe by Kenny Rogers, and it has to do with a “Point of Light”. This “Point of Light” is a special person in this world, who stands for something, has strength of character and conviction, he is not a puppet on anyone’s string. He is a person in touch with life and his environment. He is a person to be counted on, regardless of the situation. He is a man of great compassion and love. The “Point of Light” is a “Genuine”, 100% gold individual, that was our Dave.
I say “Bravo” to Dave for living life as he saw fit. I ask the Lord to bless and keep him and to help us all live with our loss, as I know Dave would want. I say to Dave, we love you and will always miss you, but so long for now, and in a little bit more than a blink of an eye, we will see you again.