I had asked Jordan "what's up with
the face?
and he told me "Mom, it's my
"game face!"

 Remembering Jordan

From the earliest days,
Jordan was always a loving and giving child.
One of my earliest and most memorable recollections of
this wonderful trait of his can be told in a
story of when he was one month shy of being three
years old. Unlike his two older finger sucking
brothers, Jordan was a pacifier baby. At the
time of this memory, he only used it at bed
time or when he was really upset about something
but he was about to turn three and I wanted
him to get rid of it all together. On this
particular night in September, I was 8
months pregnant with his brother Adam when
I had an idea. As he stood in front of me while
I was getting him ready for bed, pacifier
in mouth sucking away, I told him that his
little brother or sister would be here in a
little while and would need a pacifier and
asked him what he thought we should do.
He stood there for only the briefest of seconds,
looking me in eye the whole time, pulled the pacifier from his mouth (with a huge release of suction!) and said “here mumma, he can have mine.” as he laid it in my hand. He never
again used his pacifier.

Jordan always found the positive in every
situation even as a little boy. When he
was little, we lived next door to an older
couple whom we grew to have a wonderful
friendship with. Ted and Donna McDonald.
While Jonathan and David were gone at school,
and I was busy with Adam, Jordan
would go next door and visit. In
no time at all, Ted and Jordan were
“best buddies” They would talk for hours
while Jordan first watched and then
participated in Ted’s hobby of carving birds.
At lunch time on one of these treasured
days, Ted told Jordan he was hungry and told
him what he was going to have for lunch.
I don’t remember now what it was but Ted
asked him if he liked it. Jordan’s response,
true to his personality was...”I don’t know
I’ve never had it before but I know
I’m gonna like it!” As he grew older,
his positive attitude continued to
show itself time and time again.
When something would happen that
most people would find as a negative situation,
Jordan would be known for saying
“Well, the way I see it....” and would
always find the
positive side of the situation.

Jordan was self sufficient.
Having four sons, we didn’t believe
in “that’s girls work or that’s a boy’s
job” so all of them were raised
from very early on to help out in
the house with all the jobs that needed
to be done. In addition to cutting
the grass, shoveling snow and taking
out the trash, they all learned how
to make a bed, clean the kitchen,
wash the floor, clean a bathroom,
dust and vacuum, cook and bake,
do dishes, iron and do their own
laundry. Jordan told me one day
not so long ago that his friends were all
asking him
what college he was going to.
When I asked him why, he said
that they told him that wherever
he was going, they wanted to go to
and be his roommate because he knew
how to do everything! He was very
proud of that fact.

Jordan had a wonderful sense of humor
. He could find comedy in the most mundane
things. He especially found pleasure
in making fun of himself when he did
something stupid and would make us all laugh.
In the voice of one of his favorite TV
characters, I can still hear him saying “Doh”
like Homer Simpson when he realized he did
or said something dumb...it always made me
laugh. Another example of Jordan’s humor
can be found in something that happened exactly
one week prior to the accident.
He was at a church youth winter weekend
up north. As we were also up north only
10 minutes from where they were, Jordan
and his long time childhood friend Melissa
were spending their days with the church
group but their nights were spent with
us at my best friends cottage. On Saturday
night Jordan and Melissa came home from the
retreat house laughing like crazy. When I
asked what was so funny, Jordan relayed the
following story...”Well, Melissa, Rebecca,
Rev. Kathy and I and some other people were
hanging out talking when
these two girls walked by the door
and were heard saying “I hate Cheeze-Its”
Well, Rev. Kathy thought she said “I hate
Jesus” and she said “did she just say I hate Jesus?”
with a very serious expression on her face
as she got up to go talk to the girls.
All the time Jordan is standing there
telling me this story he is laughing so hard
he can barely get it out and his face was
as red as a beet! When he was done with
that part of the story, he begins to imitate
Rev. Kathy and stood up very straight, pulled
the collar of his shirt up and
turned his back while saying....”I’m sorry I
have to go, I have work to do, this is what
I have been trained for!” and fell to the floor
laughing his head off. This is my last really
hilarious memory of Jordan.

Jordan was compassionate. He would always put
others before himself or his feelings.
One real example of this trait can be told
in the time I broke my wrist and was in a
cast from shoulder to finger tips. At the
time Bill had a job that required him to
travel a couple days a week. It was Jordan
who at 15 years old, would help me to dress
and undress myself and make sure I had everything
I needed and was comfortable before he would go to bed.

Jordan was an easy child to raise. Mixed in
with all his good qualities, Jordan had a
“hot little temper.” When he felt he was
being treated unfairly he would sometimes raise
his voice to me. All I needed to do was to give
him “the look” that only a mother has the ability
to do, and say “just WHO do you think you are talking to?”
and he would calm down, get his composure back and apologize.
I always secretly laughed at how easy he was to
“keep in line!”

Jordan made the right choices in life time
and time again. Soccer was a passion for Jordan.
He loved it! Well, he had to make a choice
....soccer or drivers training. He knew that
if he were to pick soccer, it would delay him
getting his drivers license. Missing soccer practice
was not acceptable to either himself or his coach.
We left the decision up to him. Though like any
other 15 - 16 year old boy, he wanted to drive
really, really bad. He chose soccer.
He didn’t want to disappoint his coach or his teammates.
He never did get his license.


Jordan always knew right from wrong.
During his last Christmas break from
school, he asked if he could spend the night
with one of his best friends, Adam K.
They were going to go to a late movie and then
go back to Adams. We had a conversation about
once the movie was over, they were to go straight
back to Adam’s as the movie would keep them out
later than Jordan’s curfew. He called me when
they got home to tell me they were back at Adam’s
safe and sound and I went to bed. At 1:30
in the morning I was
awakened by the phone. Of course I was
scared by the phone ringing that late at night
as I knew our son David was still out working
delivering pizza’s. When I answered the phone,
the person on the other end said to me” Do you
know where Jordan is?” When I asked who I was
talking to, he identified himself as officer so and so.
As it happened, another friend had come over
to Adam’s after the movie and decided it would be a
good idea to go out and “paintball” someone’s house
The three of them piled into Adam’s car, Adam
as the driver, the kid with the brilliant idea
in the passenger seat and Jordan in back. They
got caught! The policeman told us that the three
boys were going to clean up the mess they made and
then could come home. We were waiting for Jordan
when he walked through the door. The first words
out of his mouth were “Ok, how long?” referring
to how long was he was going to be grounded.
I told him that was the least of his problems
and started in on him about how disappointed in him
we were. We talked about an hour and then sent him
to bed without ever giving him a punishment. Jordan
knew that what he had done was wrong and gave himself a
“self imposed” grounding of the rest of his Christmas
break because neither I or his father actually grounded
him but home he stayed...for two weeks. Jordan left
us on January 12th, 2002 just a few days after going
back to school. I now view Jordan’s poor decision
to go paintballing that night as a blessing in disguise.
For had it not been for that incident,
he would have spent a good part
of that time with his friends instead of us, his family.

I could go on forever relaying the wonders
of who Jordan was...who Jordan still is...
but I think for now, I will end by saying...
though Jordan was by no means the “perfect”
child or person, he was truly a blessing sent
straight from heaven. And even now that God
has called him home, he continues to bless and
inspire my life and the lives of all those who
knew him.

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To my friend, Judy Reed,
my thanks and gratitude
for giving of your time
and talents...blood, sweat
and tears...in making this site.
It is through you and your
compassion that we all have
this as a way of remembering
Jordan...our son, our brother,
our grandson, our nephew, our
cousin...our friend Though the
words don't come close to saying
what I feel in my heart...Thank
you from the bottom of my heart!
~ Dina...Jordan's mom forever!

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