A Letter from Sarah Thompson

Today we got a letter from our old friend Sarah Thompson. She used to live several doors down from us, and she was close to a few of our kids including Dave. Here is what she wrote. I wanted to share it with the whole family.

Dear Robin and Janene,
The month of July will never pass without me remembering Dave. I will never forget him or the childhood memories I have of him. July is the perfect birthday month for Dave... a month to celebrate, watch fireworks, catch bugs, dig in the mud, run through the sprinklers, ride bikes and mostly to enjoy life... that's how I will always remember Dave. Every memory that I have of Dave involves fun and adventure. I also remember laughing a lot.

I have 3 little kids now and I always find myself relating childhood memories to them. They love to listen to stories about my childhood, especially when the memory involves an adventure with Dave. They love to hear about how Dave dared me to eat a mud pie and when I wouldn't do it, he showed me how it was done. They love the memory of the swimming pool full of tadpoles that Dave caught and then he was nice enough to send me home with a Dixie cup full of them! My favorite is the morning that Heather and I were walking to school down the "truck road" and here came Dave... running as fast as he could ( I remember he had a piece of toast in one hand and his backpack on his back) he stumbled over a rock and somersaulted down the dirt road, he never missed a beat landing right on his feet... he just kept running. When he passed Heather and I he said "I'll race you". I remember Heather and I laughing and saying we would see him at school. The best thing about Dave was the never-ending grin on his face. When I picture Dave I always see that smile. My childhood is filled with memories of Dave. I will never forget him.

Love,

Sarah Thompson Pattison

When I read this to Janene,(well OK, when I tried to read it to Janene) there was a little catch in her voice as she said " What a treasure!" It is a treasure to have these memories recorded from so many people. Sarah's letter reminded us of how many people have not written anything about Dave. Every one that we have is a priceless jewel. Each one reminds us of fun times, and some, like this one, tell of a memory that we never had.