My best friend lost her son tragically on March 17th, 2011. It was one of those tragic accidents that are hard to even think about. He was struck and killed by numerous cars on a busy highway.
His name was David Vantrease. He will be forever 22 years old.
I remember the first few times I met David. He was six years old. RaeLynn and I worked together. She was a single mother. We spent so many hours at her house watching him entertain us. One of my favorite memories was when he wanted to be "Major Payne" and got his hair shaved as such. I remember him sneaking out of the house and sneaking back in while his mom was looking for him and him asking me not to tell he left. He was a friend to so many.
He was so adored by his mom and his sister (although she considered him a pesky little brother).
He moved away later in his life to live with his father but we still got to see him during many occassions.
He loved my kids and my kids adored him, especially the boys. His step sister Erin got married in November. David was just a big kid at heart and hung out and danced with Nikolai and Oksana.
His smile was contagious.
We will miss you terribly David and grieve of the years we will spend without your smile walking into a room.
