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 “All of us are unique individuals, but some of us are more unique than others. And Kevin was definitely one of those people.
Not a one-dimensional, or even a two or three-dimensional person, but one with so many different personality traits that it is hard to try to describe him. For me, the one word that I came up with is "extraordinary". I'll be the first to admit that all his traits weren't of the highly desirable kind, but they did outnumber the others by a large margin. The problem was that all his traits seemed to be dominant ones, all at the same time. Maybe this is what made him so extraordinarily unique. This is what made him Kevin.
Thinking about it, it's pretty amazing how he was able to accomplish all the things he did in only 23 years, with virtually no help from anyone, which he wouldn't accept anyway, even when it was offered. How did he go from being a skinny little kid to being a superbly conditioned athlete? How did he go from being an agreeable little boy to a highly argumentative young man? No wait! I forgot. He was always argumentative! Just became more so as he got older. How did he form such strong opinions about virtually everything without ever having read a complete book, that I'm aware of. And he wasn't afraid to tell you his opinion either, whether you wanted to hear it or not. But Kevin also had a great sense of humor, that I think he inherited through me from his grandfather. Some people don't know how to laugh, but Kevin knew how to laugh; and when he laughed, everyone else couldn't help but laugh too. And where did Kevin get his gift of conversation? By the time he was a teenager, he could hold an intelligent conversation with any adult he met; something most high school graduates, and many college graduates can't even do.
 Kevin had such strong wants and desires starting at an early age. It was around age 13 that he began showing the determination and goal setting traits that would allow him do the things he did. He entered an IronKids Triathlon, where they had to swim about 10 laps in an Olympic size pool, ride a bike about 3 or 4 miles, and then run a mile and a half. We didn't know it at the time, but Wonder bread would sponsor these events all around the country, and many of the kids entered would train year round, and would travel to many of these races throughout the year. Well, that year, Kevin was lucky to even get out of the pool, never having swum before, other than for fun. But he did, completely exhausted, and did well on the bike ride, and then he walked home for the run part, finishing the race. Instead of being discouraged, his comment was that he could win that race next year. So he joined a swim club, rode his bike hard that year, and, well he didn't like to run, so he kind of skipped over that part. The next summer he entered the triathlon again. In spite of his swim training, he was still several minutes behind the leaders when he got out of the pool, but his best event was the bike ride. When the riders leave the staging area, it's 20 or 30 minutes before we see them again. But when they do appear, Kevin is the first to return, leading the race. About half way through the run, going uphill, Kevin was passed, but was able to finish in second place, behind one of the "professional" kids. It was a moral victory, and showed him success was possible with hard work and determination.
Kevin showed this again in school. He went from struggling to make mediocre grades in elementary and junior high, and not really liking school, to making mostly A's and B's in high school, and not really liking school. He worked hard because he thought making good grades was necessary in order to become successful. But he didn't want to go to college though, because he would have to wait too long before he could start on making his fortune. And he didn't want to wait.
 Hockey was Kevin's greatest love. I remember when he started at age 9, he was put with the six year olds, because he didn't know how to skate. He was a sight to see, standing head and shoulders taller than the other kids, slipping and sliding around on the ice. In a few years, he went from that beginning to being an average player on what they call a traveling team. But average wasn't good enough for Kevin. So he started riding his bike about 6 miles to school every morning, so he could ride to a health club after school, to lift weights and work out. By his junior year in school, he was strong, physically fit, and the best player on his team, and one of the best in the region. But he also realized that the Southeast was not exactly the motherland ice hockey. He had to find out how good he was by playing at an advanced level of junior hockey, and in typical fashion, he had to find out right then, and not wait until he finished school. So he went first to Arizona, then to Las Vegas, playing junior hockey. He came home to finish school, then went back to Las Vegas in the fall. By December he decided that wasn't the best situation for him and he came home. Besides, it was putting him behind in his mission to become a financial success.
So Kevin went into business for himself, buying some lawn mowing equipment and a few accounts from a man he had worked for during the summers. And he delivered pizza at nights and on weekends. But while he did make money, it wasn't enough and it wasn't fast enough for him. So he sold his business and moved to Atlanta, thinking there would be better opportunities there. But delivering pizza, going through manager training, finally getting a commercial driving license, and a good paying job driving a truck wasn't good enough.
From what we have learned, the last few months were some of Kevin's best. He was happy and having fun when he wasn't working. He had bought a BMW several months ago, an expensive car being a necessary symbol of success for him. But he told a friend of his that he had to spend too much time working and didn't have enough time for the fun things in life, that he felt like he deserved to have now, not later. And, he didn't want to wait anymore for the success he wanted so badly.
When Kevin's friend told us about the last thing he did, it made me smile, because it was just what I would have expected him to do. He rented a Ferrari for a day, for $1650, and took his friends for a ride. It reminded me of a line from an old obscure song I liked, that mentioned the doomed astronauts, Grissom, White, and Chaffee, on a rocket ride to heaven. Kevin's rocket ride was in that Ferrari, and he would have taken it straight up there with him if he could have.
How Kevin left us is of no concern to me. Those of us here today are no different from others across the country mourning their hero soldiers who didn’t come home. Like those soldiers, Kevin was fighting his own battles, and with no reinforcements, which he wouldn't accept, he lost his battle. And we all lost one extraordinary unique person, whom I am very proud of, my son, Kevin.” |
