Number 2 Child’s Birthday

This is difficult to write and I’m sure it will be difficult to read. 

My number two child was a 9 lb boy named Laurence Wayne.  Named after the minister who married his father and I, and the middle name from his father and grandfather.

He was a fairly normal kid, bright and energetic. He had some health problems but overcame them as he grew.

When he was about 5 we attended a rodeo.  He was quiet through the whole show.  On the way back to the car I asked if he wanted to ride horses some day.  He answered “just one at a time”.  He was a very literal child.

He loved dinosaurs as do most kids.  Many discussions involved who would win in a fight between a Tyrannasaurus Rex and a Triceratops or some other beast.  If I remember right, the Rex was always the winner.

He went to school, made friends, even girls who were friends.  He was a good listener, being sandwiched between two sisters helped with that. He teased his older sister’s boyfriends unmercifully.

He made good grades but not as good as he could have made.

He was a Boy Scout.  He loved the Boy Scout Camp and worked there 2 summers.  He earned the Firecrafter rank which involved making fire by twirling a stick on a piece of wood.  He helped some of his leaders also earn that rank. 

He earned an open water scuba diving license while participating in Explorer scouts and made several trips to Florida to dive in springs.  I sat by the phone and worried.   He planned to join the Navy.

The last day of school for his senior class he went to pick up his cap and gown and then went to an afternoon party at his girl friend’s house. 

People got hungry so he was making a trip to get food when he took a corner too fast and rolled the car.

He was thrown out and killed.  I received a visit from the coroner.  I think I yelled and screamed and threw things.  I yelled at God and the whole world.

There is no sorrow so great as losing a child.  I still miss him even though that accident was May 22, 1984. 

He would have been a good husband and father.

The funeral was the day before graduation ceremonies.  A lot of his friends sent flowers and cards.  For most of them it was their first experience with death.  A lot of the ribbons on the flowers and notes in the cards had a message – “later”.

later….