On March 16 we found out some terrible news that our friend Kevin Gross had been killed in a motorcycle accident while on his way to work that morning. Kevin was part of our church small group here in Virginia. For 18 months, we did life together each and every week- often times more than just Thursday nights- until his family PCS'd in 2016. He was married to Hannah and they have 3 daughters- Savanah 16, Chloe 13 and Ramona 3. They are the family far right in this picture of us all-
A few favorite memories-
Kevin was from Oregon, and Hannah chose for him to be buried at the Veterans Cemetery there in Portland. We knew it wasn't realistic that we would all be able to go, so we decided to send the husbands to honor Kevin and support Hannah for the burial. Unfortunately Brian Mann was able to go because of work commitments, but Brian and Jose were there. Hannah sent me this picture, calling the guys her "two pillars of strength" that day-
Apparently Ramona was done with pictures above, but look at this little cutie-
I was so delighted that Brian and Jose were able to take this trip together. It was by NO MEANS an easy trip for them to make, and they both admitted that lots of tears were shed. But they did it. They showed up for Kevin.
And in their own guy way, they honored him at a brewery aptly named "Bald Man"-
Oddly enough, on their flight home, they were seated with another buddy of Kevin's who had flown in from Little Rock. Brian said they all enjoyed sharing Kevin stories together during the flight-
Although when this picture was taken, we thought Kevin was waving hello, I now see it as his waving good-bye-
And he looks content, and at peace doing so...
He was a good man. A true follower of God, he had his priorities right. He cherished Hannah and adored his girls. He loved his motorcycle, an occasional cigar and date night at the American Legion.
Our lives were richer because he was in them.
No comments:
Post a Comment