Month: January 2011

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Be The Best.

From tats to floor mats.

In honour of Chris’ b-day there was a lot of yogurt consumed and push-ups completed amoung other things like steak eating and ice cream cake devouring.

In this video evidence you can see my nephew Steve rockin out his push-up tribute from Charleston, South Carolina, USA!

Cool.

Although as parents we’re not advocating tattoos, we know that they are a very powerful form of remembrance.

When I saw Devon’s tattoo, I loved it.  Devon is a friend of Chris’ from Brookswood Secondary and you saw him in the yogurt toast picture from yesterday’s blog.

Look closely.  Not only does his tattoo say ‘forever young’, but it has Chris’ signature.

I asked Devon if it hurt.

He said yup…but I’m sure he didn’t care.

My eyes were wet when I looked closely and took in the full impact of the moment and thought about the future and how Chris will be with Devon forever.

That was an amazing show of friendship, respect and I’m hoping a driving force for Devon through life’s journey ahead!

Whether we wear our tattoos on our arms or on our hearts, we are RIGHT WITH YOU DEVON!

Chris Friesen has affected us forever.  And I mean that in the most positive way.

His attention to fitness.

His attention to healthy eating.

His attention to following your dreams.

His attention to goals to attain those dreams.

His attention to Being The Best.

As the day ended on Friday, January 14, 2011 we felt a strong peace that Chris was happy…and so were we.

Rock your week and Be The Best.

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Be The Best.

Yogurt and Toast.

All day long the texts, emails and comments kept rolling in.

We appreciate everything and all of those thoughts and prayers!

The Brookswood gang dropped by in the late afternoon and we had a very unique opportunity to toast Chris.

As I’ve mentioned before, Chris had the ability to eat yogurt without a spoon.  He would sort of squish the bottom of the yogurt cup and slurp and drink the yogurt, usually in one ‘fluid’ motion.

We know there are young readers of this blog and as parents we’re not endorsing this form of yogurt consumption!  We were just happy Chris and Max would pound back yogurt instead of cake.

In this picture you can see the toast just getting underway.  Including yours truly taking the picture, that was an even dozen toasting Chris with a yogurt salute and down the hatch it went.

Ingrid was left wondering how it could be done as she ended up with yogurt in a few places on her face.  I know Chris had a laugh at (or with) all of us!

What an amazing day it was.

I’ve got a few more stories to tell you so tune in tomorrow!

We ended the day knowing that Chris would be very, very happy…and we were too.  As tough as the day was, it was really incredible.

Who knew yogurt was made for toasting?

Ingrid, Cooper, Marshall, Cam, Lucas, Beau, Alan (front), Dylan, Jesse, Max, Devon
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Be The Best.

Happy Birthday Chris!

So many people have told us or emailed us about how they thought of us over Christmas.

I know so many more think of us often and are thinking of us now as we mark what would have been Chris’ 18th birthday tomorrow even if they don’t or can’t tell us.

We are exactly the same way.

We’ve been following the story of the Berg family in Mission and Gillian Berg’s amazing strength and very real highs and lows as she takes care of her family and slowly moves forward with each day.

You can follow and support with your thoughts and prayers through: http://gillianb-journeying.blogspot.com/

The reason I say we are the same is that our hearts go out to Gillian and her family, but we don’t know them personally.  Our thoughts and prayers are with them, but we haven’t verbalized that to them.  For now we will support by reading, caring and praying.  Just as we’ve done, she can see by the blog views how so many people are supporting them.

We know that’s what people do for us all the time.

As we approach Chris’ birthday tomorrow, we don’t have any big public events happening.  A few of his school buds will drop by.  As a family, we’ll head to our favourite steakhouse for a big steak dinner and piece of ice cream cake.  Chris was a fitness and health food fanatic, but he would eat steak and ice cream cake…and we’ll have some in his honour tomorrow night.

So the question is always, what can I do?  What should I do?  I don’t know them very well, or even if I do, I’m not sure what to do.

Here’s the solution.

We’d ask everyone who reads this blog to do some little thing in honour of Chris tomorrow.

Here’s a few ideas.

1. push-ups – even doing one or two in his name would be cool

2. make a toast when you have dinner

3. hug your kids

4. hug your parents

5. eat some yogurt (he would eat probably 4-6 per day)

6. wish him a happy birthday verbally

7. cook some eggs (yep…he ate a LOT of eggs)

There’s a few ways.

I’m sure you can think of more.

Drop us a comment if you want to share.

If you don’t, we totally get it and we want to say thank you for the continued support.

Randy, Ingrid and Max.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS!!

 

Jan 09 - Chris turns 16.

 

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Be The Best.

18 reasons I love my son.

1. His smile

2. His bear hugs

3. His appetite

4. The way he lit up a room

5. His passion

6. His desire

7. His intensity

8. The push-ups!

9. His lacrosse skill

10. His humour

11. His loyalty

12. His sense of team

13. His love for others

14. His eyes

15. His music

16. His focus

17. The goal to Be The Best

18. Every moment we shared on this earth and our joint hope for the future

What would be Chris’ eighteenth birthday will be celebrated this Friday, January 14.

The grief rolls in like waves on a Hawaiian North Shore surf.  It is fierce and beautiful at the same time.  We know that the level of pain can only exist because of the depth of love.

And for that we are strangely thankful.

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Be The Best.

Guest blog – Rev Jake..aka Grandpa

I’ve asked my Dad if he wanted to jot a few thoughts down for the blog from time to time.  I think it’s a beautiful tribute to his grandson and Faith in general.  Keep rockin it Dad!  Heavy…and good.  Thanks.

————–

Unspeakable! This word occurs only three times in the New Testament, and could also be rendered as indescribable (NKJ), or inexpressible.

I was thinking of this word as I thought of Chris.

All of the words spoken or sung or written since that dark day of March 25, 2010 cannot adequately express what is in our hearts: there is something inexpressible here.

The raw emotions, the feelings, the conflicting thoughts cry out for resolution, but there is no resolution.

The thoughts of our hearts end with questions rather than periods; they are questions that have no answers.

The trauma of all that happened has left us dangling in space.

We are on the wrong side of the door of a mystery, of something inexpressible.

A human life is inexpressible.

Chris’s life was and is inexpressible.

The Christ-gift that came at Christmas is declared to be God’s unspeakable gift.

(2 Corinthians 9: 15)

This Christ, the ultimate Creator of life, declares all of our lives invaluable.

The Christ presides over Chris’ life even now, in a divine continuum, even while we mourn Chris’ departure from us.

The indescribable Christ weeps with us now in our pain, and desires to lead us through the valley of the shadow until we too shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

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Be The Best.

Seattle Seahawks and Be The Best…YES!

I was aiming to keep tabs on The Hawks playoff game this afternoon and do a few things around the house.

Oops….couldn’t stop watching.

Max and I watched the second half together including one of the most amazing runs for a touchdown in NFL playoff history.

It had Be The Best all over it.

That hunger, drive and desire to win is what drew Chris to sports and it is what continues to draw Max and I to sports whether it is the NFL, NHL or playing  basketball or soccer ourselves.

If sports is your thing…or if you want to see some Be The Best in action, check out this amazing run.

Story and vid link here.

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Be The Best.

Calgary or bust.

Over Christmas I had a bit more time to look at some history and came across this article featuring a quote from Chris.  I love the comments about team.

Funny story leading up to this tournie.  The team was raising funds to go to Calgary and had received the ‘ok’ to stand in front of certain liquor stores with jerseys on and request donations via a donation bucket.  (don’t ask why…it was easier than a car wash I guess…!)

Anyways, Chris and his buddy Brett Dobray were at a store and I noticed that they would get some people stopping and donating, but many would pass on by.  That is to be expected.  Lacrosse is a growing sport and people didn’t have an emotional connection as they might with hockey.

I had a marketing thought.

I made up some signs that said, ‘help us beat Calgary’ and ‘we’ll bodycheck an Albertan for $10’.  You should have seen the difference!  People were stopping….and donating and donating some more.  It was incredible.

What was the difference?

All of a sudden there was an emotional connection.  In BC, people love (usually in good nature) to bash Albertans!  Hey, when we’re out of the country we’re all brothers and sisters!  It’s like a brotherly competition…just watch the Canucks and Calgary or Edmonton and you get the rivalry.  It was just amazing to see people engage emotionally and then with their wallets as they connected with the BC vs Alberta challenge.  All of a sudden they felt like THEY were going to be playing simply by donating $10 or $20 bucks.

The boys loved that story and that experience…seeing how words and approach could make such a difference.

Secondly, those boys DID play for everyone of those donors and played their hearts out, winning gold, with 6 members of that team representing BC nationally later that summer.

Here’s the full story:

July 2007

The Langley Thunder Bantam A1’s traveled to Calgary over the Canada Day weekend. Forget bull riding at the Stampede, they were there for some hard hitting, fast paced box lacrosse action. Perhaps the actual thunder storm on Saturday night was a good omen for the Thunder, as the young men (just completed grade seven and eight) took on competition from all over Western Canada.

Saturday match-ups had the squad take on the Sabrecats from Calgary beating them 11-3 with Adam Gallen earning game MVP for a strong offensive performance. The Thunder continued by defeating Saskatchewan’s provincial team in the afternoon game by a score of 9-2 led by game MVP goaltender Ryley Brown who’s saves propelled the offensive charge and final decisive score.
Sunday’s games featured a strong Red Deer team with Langley prevailing by a score of 7-5. Game MVP Chris Friesen had a strong defensive showing against a physical opponent. In the afternoon game, Langley fell behind a skilled Calgary Axeman team, but rallied from a 3 goal deficit to chop the tournament defending champion Axeman 10-7. A brilliant goal and full game hustle earned Will Vandenhooven the game MVP. Having gone 4-0 in tournament play, the Thunder headed into the gold medal game against an all-star team from Calgary called the Hornets.
The game lived up to the hype with the first period ending tied at zero. The Hornets came out stinging in the 2nd period and opened up a 2-1 lead with two Langley players in the sin bin with the period ending. The Hornets capitalized on the 2-man advantage at the beginning of the 3rd by netting a goal and opening a two-goal lead. If it were not for the heroics of Ryley Brown, the Thunder goalie, the score may have been much higher. Instead of folding their tents however, the Thunder rallied led by team wide explosive defensive performance leading to goals by Brett Dobray and Michael Messenger. With the game tied Adam Gallen scored a timely goal with 1 second left on the shot clock. Langley then iced the cake with a massive defensive effort during pure pandemonium breaking in the Thunder zone. With the Hornet goalie pulled for an extra attacker Brett Dobray flew down the floor with two Hornets all over him and scored a diving empty netter for a final score of 5-3 for the Thunder.
Chris Friesen, the team captain stated, “We have been working hard at team play. Working for each other and working together. I think we did that throughout this tournament and the results we achieved were excellent”.
“I’m proud of each member of this squad. Everyone played hard and played together”, added Coach Sean Beasley.
Next up for the team is the Provincial Championships hosted in Langley this year which will be held July 18-22.
Six members of the Langley Thunder Bantam A1 team will also be representing BC in the National Tournament in August in Ontario.
Full story from lacrosse association website with picture.
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Be The Best.

Good morning, mourning.

Morning and Mourning.

Although I did not consult with any etymologists directly, I have been completely informed by Wikipedia and therefore am completely confident (not) that these words did not originate from similar sources.

That being said, The Online Etymology Dictionary is a very interesting place to go if you need a break from Facebook or that online poker site…(you know who you are) 😉

Being soundly beaten by my Mom (and Dad and Max) in Scrabble over the holidays has provided me with some increased motivation to study a word or two.

These words however, morning and mourning, have been kicking around in my head for months.

I really didn’t understand what the word mourning meant until we lost Chris.

After that it didn’t take long to get the true meaning of that word…and it is something that will simply be a part of us forever.

You hear of a period of mourning.  I guess in one sense that is very true, but I can’t believe that the feeling of loss and mourning will ever really disappear.

What I found interesting though was that the word morning, at least in our English language, lives in the word mourning.

Why interesting?

When I think of mourning I think of the ache of loss.  When I think of morning I think of the energy and anticipation of a new day.

Hmmm…ache of loss while still anticipating the possibilities of a new day.

Yup, I would say there definitely can be morning in mourning.

I shot this pic a few weeks back.  The winter can be seen as desolate and cold with the trees losing all their leaves.  Although this is  a shot of the sun setting on that very cold scene, to me it’s actually a sign of hope.

You know why?

After the sunset comes the morning.  The same trees will still be bare.  It will still be cold.  The mourning will still be there.  But morning, with all it’s anticipation of the future, will be there too.

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Be The Best.

Vacuums…the update.

Some of you remember Chris’ buddy Tanner who spoke at the funeral last year (feels weird to type ‘last year’).

Tanner was aiming to defy all odds and open a vacuum business at the age of 17.  (He has family in the business, but this venture is all his own.)

Here’s the background post if you want a reminder.

Well, I finally got out to see Tanner today.  We had a coffee and chatted about business.

Yes, he is still aiming for that GED and that will happen in due time, but my goal today was to help Tanner with a business thought or two as he makes his way.

I was very impressed with his shop and most importantly, his attitude.  He really is developing a great brand at Newport Vacuums…one that is devoted to service and customer experience…and he’s doing this all himself at 17.

So our conversation was how to manage growth…and growth is coming with a record sales month in December and I’m sure more on the way in 2011.

In the months before Chris passed away he asked if I would help his buddy Tanner, who I didn’t know well at the time, with some business/management conversations as he was seriously looking at putting school on hold and pursuing a business.  Chris was concerned about the choice, but he was wanting the best for Tanner. That was Chris.  Looking out for his buddies.

Chris…the answer was yes then and yes now.

The paths that Chris’ high school friends take will become very different over time.  That’s even happening now.  Many of his buds are prepping for graduation and then college, travel or just exploring the next step.  Tanner found his next step early and although it’s not an easy road, I’ve seen many businesses that are not led by someone this focused and enthusiastic on becoming successful.

I put together a little vid of today’s visit.

If you need a vacuum, you can take a shot on this kid with some solid confidence!

ps…website is still a work in progress, but you’ll get the jist!

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Be The Best.

Chips, Cancer and Christmas Trees

The Township of Langley was contracting to Field’s Tree Services to do some work near our house this week.

I talked to the crew and they mentioned they were having a Christmas Tree chipping event this weekend at Langley’s Willowbrook Mall. (Jan 8 and 9, 9am-3pm)

All the proceeds from this location are going to cancer research through the Canadian Cancer Society.

I don’t know the story, but these things are usually personal as so many of our families are hit by cancer.

So…instead of throwing your tree along the freeway this year…you’ve got a great alternative!!

That’s Be The Best…tree chipping style.

Click for all details from Township page.