Andy was the youngest of my three boys.
He came 17 months after David and was an 'accident'. We always told him
that and
he made a big joke about it, as
we did. David is 27, and recently married his love, Julie. They live
nearby. My oldest, Tim is in the Air Force, stationed in California
and is married with children. He is 30. We also have Rhonda, my husbands daughter, in another
state, married
with children.
Andy was very shy when he was little, around
other people, but was our little clown at home. As he got older, he grew
out of that and was very quick witted. He got behind in elementary school
because he would rather play than study, typical 3rd born, but was working
hard to graduate the year he was killed
He was a beautiful red head, curly hair,
so very well liked. Played little league baseball and in high school for
3 years. He tried his hand at being in the band, like his brothers, but
sports was his thing. He had a talent for listening to his peers and giving
advice. More than one young person came to me and told me that Andy had
always been there to listen to them, or, he brightened their day if they
were feeling down, or, that because of him, they were straightening up
theirs lives. I have come to believe that was his purpose, to gently and
sweetly touch the lives of so many. There were 300-400 at his funeral,
young people, their parents and teachers. They all liked Andy. He had a
killer smile and could charm the adults, especially his teachers.
Andy left the house on Tues. night, Dec.
7, 1993, about 9:00 to go to our neighbors house, he had grown up with
their boys and were best friends with them. He and Jerry decided to run
out to another friend's house, Jerry had to be back home by 10:00.
I didn't know they had gone off in Jerry's truck, but it was ok, because
he did that alot. They would run to the store, etc., and be back shortly.
In Houston, we have HOV lanes on our freeways.
They are a single lanes in the middle, with concrete barricades on each
side. They are used to get in and out of town, with more than one
person in the car, traveling inbound in the mornings and outbound in the
evenings. Some how, the boys got on the HOV lane coming into town (the
wrong way) that night and had a head on collision with another vehicle.
Two could pass on the lane if they were going very slow and deliberately
doing it, but otherwise, it is a single lane path.
Andy was killed instantly, Jerry survived,
with minor physical injuries.
He suffered with some emotional problems,
but is doing well now. He recently married.
He felt as if he had killed his best friend.
The first to stop at the scene,
had a phone, called Jerry's parents, and they went to the scene, about
3 miles from our home.
They called us but didn't know the
boys' conditions. We got there, but they had removed Andy from the vehicle
and it took us,
what seemed like an eternity to
find out about him. A police officer finally approached us and I knew from
the look on his face, before he even said anything, what Andy's condition
was. All he had to say was, "I'm sorry."
The next day, as the students and teachers
found out, they pretty much let the kids who were his friends gather with
the counselors and leave school if they needed to. They all ended
up at our house. They trickled in, one or two at a time, not really knowing
what to say or do. We did more comforting of them than they did us. So
many of them had never lost anyone close to them and didn't know how to
handle it. So many of them still come around to see us and that has helped
to keep us sane.
Andy had had a steady girlfriend for about
a year. Shannon was the only one he ever went with that long. I believe
he really loved her. But he was a big flirt and dozens of girls were
always calling the house. I had told him that I was going to start
charging him for being his answering service.
Andy liked Rock music, especially 'Guns
& Roses'. His girlfriend made a tape of some of his favorites,
that didn't have bad lyrics, to be played softly before the start of his
funeral.
He went with me to see the Broadway production
of 'Cats' the year before his death and loved that music especially 'Memory'.
I bought him a tape of the music
and played it over the telephone to Shannon. He loved the Houston
Astros and Texas A&M. He had planned to go into the Coast Guard,
wanted to be stationed in the Gulf area and help stop the drug runners.
Andy was a typical 'All American" boy.
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