Evan entered our world with a rush of joy on March 19, 1980. From day one he was a powerful spirit in a fragile package. His life was the consummate illustration of the triumph of the spirit over the limitations of the flesh... in Evan's case, limitations that were quite daunting - including two years in a body cast at ages 5 & 6, 15 spinal surgeries in 7 years, terrifying seizures, and life-threatening asthma. By the time God called him home, after 32 years of dogged struggle and infectious joy, he had taught all of us who loved him important lessons about living, determination, unconditional love, and courage.

On July 1, 2012 he left for his true home. Evan is back in the arms of God where he belongs, and reunited with many family members and his dear friend, Michael.

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This song is from the Broadway Musical "Wicked"
and it is dedicated to Evan by his older brother,
Travis. If you have ever lost someone who had
a profound effect for good on your life, please
take time to listen to it so beautifully performed
by Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenowith at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0GEbKQXR1U

"For Good"

I'm limited
Just look at me - I'm limited
And just look at you,
You can do all I couldn't do
So now it's up to you
For both of us - now it's up to you...

I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return

Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you...

Like a planet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But... because I knew you
I have been changed for good

It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made from what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend

Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But... because I knew you
I have been changed for good

And just to clear the air
I ask forgiveness
For the things I've done you blame me for
But then, I guess we know
There's blame to share
And none of it seems to matter anymore

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
I do believe I have been changed for the better
And... because I knew you
I have been changed for good.


Ode. Intimations on Immortality (Wm. Wordsworth.)

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home:
Heaven lies about us in our infancy!
Shades of the prison-house begin to close
Upon the growing Boy,
But He beholds the light, and whence it flows,
He sees it in his joy;
The Youth, who daily farther from the east
Must travel, still is Nature's Priest,
And by the vision splendid
Is on his way attended;
At length the Man perceives it die away,
And fade into the light of common day.