Reflections from His Parents

Mom’s Memories

He was a great kid to have around. I always enjoyed our after school discussions about books he was reading for school and his thoughts on current affairs.

He was somewhat intense, but had a boyish sense of humor. He could be a tease, but usually knew when he had crossed the line. He was sensitive, gentle and sweet but had recently developed a very deep voice. People found him charming.

He was an adorable baby.  As a toddler he loved animals, and I remember how excited he got about the baby ducks going off miniature diving boards at the Stock Show. I could hardly tear him away.

Dad’s Memories

Daniel and I loved to play foosball (table soccer). Well, I loved to play it. Daniel grew a little tired of it, since he beat me 80% of the time.  He would have preferred to play video games, but he was so much more superior at them than with foosball, where I least had a little chance of winning.  Despite usually losing to Daniel at foosball, I loved the challenge of trying to beat him. For me, losing by a score of 10 to 7 was an accomplishment. It was almost always me asking him to play, and him somewhat reluctantly agreeing. But he did it to please me. That’s the kind of kid he was.

When he was five, a birthday party ended with a heavy rain.  Daniel’s friends were gone.  Linda and I were exhausted, but Daniel still had energy. He wanted to play yet another game he got as a gift. Dad sighed and said, “Let’s just save it for a rainy day.” A puzzled Daniel glance outside and said, ” But it IS a rainy day!”

One thing I especially admired about Daniel was his drive to challenge his weaknesses. Daniel wasn’t very athletic, yet he chose to join the cross country team.  He was not good enough to make the varsity squad, yet he practiced with them and cheered them on I meets.  He was very shy—the last one you’d ever expect to volunteer to stand in front of other students to speak.  Yet he choose to join the debate team at Columbine—and was one of their better debaters.  I too am introverted. Daniel has inspired me to overcome that and be able to speak in front of others.  

You’ll see lots of photos here of Daniel as a kid.  But you won’t see very many of him as a teen, because he became very camera shy.  He would duck away as soon as he saw me with a camera.  Of course, it didn’t help that I was always taking photos and videos of he and Christie, so I’m sure he tired of it.