Monday, May 31, 2010

Now for the big one--Jason Craig Humphrey

Jason was our firstborn and the light our lives. He was the first grandchild for Tony's parents and the fifth for my mom and dad. My parents were not the kind to make subsequent grandchildren less important. Every single one was special.
Jason was a very happy baby. I can still hear his giggle when he was just a baby. I could look in his baby book to get exact times and dates for all important events in his early childhood, but I'm not quite tough enough for that.
He was the perfect baby for two young parents because he was never sick; he was easy to take care; he was very content. I think he was about eight months old when he had his first visit to the dr. for anything other than a well-baby check.
As a child Jason was accident prone, and he had the scars to prove it. About the time he started to school, he figured out that he couldn't run harum scarum though life, and his injuries lessened. I'm pretty sure he would have been diagnosed with ADD if I had ever had him tested, but he soon mellowed out.
He was blessed with teachers who always thought he was great; he wasn't the best student in the class, but he was well-behaved, courteous, and cooperative.
It was always a joke with his elementary teachers that he would volunteer me to make cookies for every special day.
He loved horses. From very early in his life, it was obvious to us that he was going to be much more interested in horses than he was in sports. He wanted to spend as much time as possible with his granddad and was blessed with a man who made it possible for him to spend part of every summer with him.
We moved to Tecumseh between 8th and 9th grade, and he immediately fit in well with a great group of kids.
His highschool years were dedicated to horse shows, pig shows, basketball, and ag activities.
When it came time for college, he tried Northern for a semester but soon transfered to Connor's. The first phone call I got from him after a week at Connor's, he said, "Mom, this place is awesome; everyone here is just like me." I wasn't sure that was such a great thing, but he did well there. He participated on the livestock judging team and traveled all over with them.
His years at OSU were equally special. He worked for Marilyn Franz and trained horses while going to school.
We thought everything was going just as it should when he and Candy married. I had absolutely no doubt in their relationship. I never knew what happened, but the marriage ended after about three years.
After that time he drifted a little. He lived in Stillwater, El Reno, Minco, Drumright, back to Stillwater and then he came home for about eight months. That eight months were some of the most special times in our lives. He attended church with me almost every week. That means so much to me today.
I didn't know why, but I was honored that he wanted to spend time with us and knew that he was welcome.
After he moved to Nebraska, our relationship changed to a phone relationship. He called me the morning of his death, and we had a nice visit. It wasn't long enough from today's viewpoint.
I will miss him for the rest of my days.

No comments: