My Son Jason Loved Life

No One Loved Life More than My Son Jason

This month's theme for City Daily Photo Bloggers is Loving Life. No one loved life more than my son Jason. Unfortunately, he only got to enjoy it for fourteen short years, but he packed a lot of life into those years. He was a child we choose, and he entered our lives when he was just four years old. He moved in with us when he was five, and he officially became our son when he was seven. (Read more about that in How I Became a Parent.) He usually celebrated his birthday at the beach. It was a joint party for him and his sister, adopted with him, and we invited their friends and their friends' families. This picture was taken at the first one of these parties.

Jason's Friends Try to Bury Him in Beach Sand

He loved playing with other children. He also loved building things with any available materials. In this photo, he and his friends are building a log fort with the logs from a tree that had just been trimmed. Jason is the one in the football shirt. The rest are his friends in the neighborhood.

Jason and Neighborhood Friends Building Fort from Logs

Jason Made Friends Everywhere

As Jason grew he continued to make friends with both people and animals. He loved being with animals, and they seemed to know he loved them. He also befriended many who had no real friends. It was also easy for him to start conversations with strangers we met when we traveled. He loved the historical sites and often tried to learn as much as he could from the docents and enactors. Here he has engaged with a soldier at Valley Forge. He loved learning, but not school.

Jason at Valley Forge

Here he is petting a deer that came into family camp on Catalina Island. I think he was seven or eight that year.

Jason Petting a Deer in Camp on Catalina Island

When he was thirteen, we took a mother-son trip to Sacramento and spent a night camping at Clear Lake. He made friends with this dog he met there. He loved dogs and when at home he would bring home every neighborhood dog that got loose during the day and keep it until the owners got home from work. Then he'd return the dog to its owners. He knew where all those dogs lived because he made the rounds of the neighborhood on his bike every day and got to know all the neighbors, including the adults.

Jason  Playing with Dog from Nearby Campsite at Clear Lake

On this trip, Jason fulfilled his dream of panning for gold. He had made friends with a friend of my husband who would visit and tell stories of his own gold prospecting trips. Our motel in Sacramento was right by the river. We had bought a gold pan in Old Town, and he had the time of his life with it, even though he didn't find much gold. It was the experience that mattered to him, and he experienced as much as he could in the time he had.

Jason Panning for Gold in Sacramento, 1990.

It was trying to experience as much as he could that finally led to his death. He went to Pyramid Lake in Los Angeles on an impromptu church outing to waterski. One of the adults had the boat. We did not know he had brought that jet ski that Jason had always wanted to ride. Even though we had told him to wait until he was 18 to ride a jet ski because we knew how dangerous it would be for him, the adults on that trip offered him the chance and he just couldn't say no. So he got the chance for that experience and rode that jet ski straight to Heaven.

Click here to see what other City Daily Photo Bloggers posted to this month's theme: Loving Life.

January 19 is Good Memory Day

Jason after a Long Day at Disneyland
© B. Radisavljevic

When you get to be my age one has accumulated many memories. So which should I pick for Good Memory Day? I think I'd have to go back in time to when my son was alive and sharing my life. He joined our family when he was five years old, and we'd known him as a foster child next door for the year before that. We met as friends who talked outside in the front yard, and then we began to invite him in. He was my friend before he was my son,  and he always remained my friend. He lived with us for nine years before an accident took him off to heaven. This photo was an early one, taken after his first trip to Disneyland.

Jason in Clown Costume
© B. Radisavljevic

After he'd been with us about two years, while he was still a foster child, he dressed as clown for Halloween. It suited his personality perfectly, because he loved to make people laugh. I will always treasure this photo. He was seven when  it was taken.

In the summer of 1985, after the adoption, we took a trip to Washington, D.C. We planned to spend a week there playing tourist with friends of the family who had moved to Massachusetts and didn't know Jason yet, since they had moved away from us before he joined our family. It was in Washington, D.C. that Jason met Abraham Lincoln.

Jason at Lincoln Memorial, © B. Radisavljevic

Jason Pinning Me at Webelo Court of Honor,  © B. Radisavljevic

The next year,  Jason moved to a new school and joined a troop of Webelo Scouts. I was very happy the night pinned me at a Court of Honor to signify that I had helped him to advance.

Jason at Valley Forge,  © B. Radisavljevic

When Jason was twelve, our family took a trip to Massachusetts while my husband was on a temporary contract to work there. Since we were homeschooling by then, we wanted to see all the historical places we could. It was a wonderful trip where we made many good memories. Jason always liked interacting with the docents and others playing parts in living history reenactments. Here he is interacting with a soldier at Valley Forge. If he looks a bit tired it's because we had a long ride that day and would go even farther -- all the way to Massachusetts with a stop in Philadelphia to see the Liberty Bell before we finally reached our destination.

Jason at Point Lobos,  © B. Radisavljevic

The next summer, the summer before he died, we had the opportunity to take a mother / son trip that had several purposes. We wanted to provide the setting for earning two Boy Scout badges, and one of them involved visiting the state capitol. I also wanted us to see more of California along the way. It was a trip I'll never forget, and I'll always be grateful we were able to have the time alone. This photo was taken at Point Lobos.

Jason Panning for Gold in Sacramento,  © B. Radisavljevic

After a few more side trips, including camping at Clear Lake State  Park, we got to Sacramento. We stayed at a motel along the American River, and Jason fulfilled a long-held desire to pan for gold. Unfortunately, he didn't find any. He still enjoyed the experience. I will always treasure the memories made on our trip. I had less than a year to make more, since after eleven more months, Jason was gone. This is the photo the newspaper used for the obituary.

Which good memory would you like to celebrate today?