Michael
and Patricia
A Love Story
June
22, 2002 was to be Michael Amos and Patricia
McGinn's wedding day.
Just
one year earlier, at the end of June 2001,
Patricia joined our family for a beautiful
lakeside vacation. Michael proposed to Trish
in our canoe on the lake and they were filled
with excitement as they planned their future
as husband and wife.
We
were falling in love with that 19-year-old
young lady who had come into our Michael's
life. They completed each other and adored
each other. Joy surrounded them and they drew
others into their joy. They both had a passion
for their God and for others. They were very
involved in youth ministry.
Trish
majored in early childhood education with
hopes of home schooling her future children
one day. She worked as a florist and often
expressed her love to us with flowers. She
could sing like an angel and wrote beautiful
poetry. She dearly loved our Michael.
Michael
was busy as a computer animation major at
the Art Institute of Philadelphia and worked
as a graphic artist for an advertising agency.
He worked on web design, logos and other art
projects for various ministries. Michael loved
you and no matter who you were, you knew it.
He dearly loved Trish.
The
afternoon of July 11, 2001 was beautiful and
sunny. Patricia called to tell me that she
had just finished her first day of the summer
quarter at the community college. She was
student teaching at a day care center and
we laughed because the children spoke Chinese
and she had no idea how she was going to prepare
the lesson plans. That was a special moment.
Later
that day, Michael joined us for dinner. He
had just prepared a huge banner for a special
youth group event that night. He looked so
handsome. In just 3 weeks he would be turning
21. He wore a blue tee shirt that matched
the color of his eyes, black sandals and khaki
hiking shorts with Velcro pockets. (I can
still hear the Velcro open and close when
he would take out the lip balm he was always
smearing on his lips). He stood from the table,
hugged each one of us goodbye and then walked
out the door to pick up Patricia to take her
to the church where
they met, fell in love and both worked as
youth leaders. That goodbye was a very special
moment.
Those
were the last moments we shared with them
alive. Michael and Patricia said their goodbyes
and were leaving church to go home just as
they did every Wednesday night. But this night
they didn't make it. In a single moment
of time, while exiting the parking lot, another
21 year old man who was drunk and speeding,
crushed them in their car, killing them instantly.
The drunk driver spent a couple of days in
the hospital and make a full recovery.
He was at least a .19 blood alcohol level.
He says he never saw them. There were no skid
marks. Michael and Trish cushioned his blow
and lost their lives.
Let
me share with you about our son's wedding
day...
Unbeknownst to us at the time, Michael had
proposed to Trish in our canoe less than 2
weeks before their deaths while at the lake
on our family vacation. We discovered their
chosen wedding date tucked in Patricia's
Bible, pictures of flowers, veils and caterers...even
the wedding guest list...already prepared...folded
in her journal. We found a sweet poem that
Michael composed tucked away in his art book
when we returned from seeing his body
at the hospital that horrific night.
I
love my mom, I love my dad.
You must know something that makes me glad.
Though I think you already know,
Patricia and I love each other
So.......
I'm going to keep her
They
planned to share that poem with us announcing
their engagement the following weekend at
a family picnic...yet they never had the
chance.
Michael
and Patricia were cremated and we celebrated
their brief lives in a beautiful joint memorial
service held in their honor.
We
decided to take their ashes to the lake where
Michael proposed and join them together on
what would have been their wedding day, June
22, 2002.
It
was an overcast Saturday morning when we walked
onto the dock. Michael's father, brother
and Patricia's brother boarded the same
canoe that Michael proposed in just a year
before. Only this time, two boxes of ashes
were placed upon Trish's brother's
lap and were covered by flowers. The men paddled
the earthly remains of our sweet loved ones
out to center of the still, quiet lake. The
only sound made was the music playing beside
us on the dock
as we struggled to make sense of this day.
The
canoe was positioned. Two brothers and a father
began to spread the ashes. The flowers were
gently placed on top of the ashes and we watched
them slowly bob and drift apart with the current
of the water.
Finally,
the canoe had turned to head back to shore
and just as though we planned it all, the
canoe pulled up to the dock as the last note
from our chosen CD was played.
No
bouquet to throw, no honeymoon...just
a sad and tragic end to a tender love story.
We are left with the sorrow and grief and
the reality that we have lost an entire limb
of our family tree.
We
will not see Michael and Patricia again until
Heaven. So we say goodbye with hope and we
grieve with hope, because we know that our
goodbye is not the end. I Thessalonians 4:13
& 14, Hebrews 10:23
Till
Heaven dearest Michael and Trish,
You are deeply loved and missed,
Mom
for the Amos family; Linda, Chuck, Jayme and
Christie
YMLY
Grandma and Grandpa Barbarek thank you AAIM,
for the support during this difficult time.
