A Tribute

On Wednesday morning my father in law, Mike Gowens, passed away. It was a huge shock to all of us in the family. Jared and his Dad went to the driving range to hit golf balls just the night before. And then, we were saying good bye to him in a hospital room the next morning. It all went too fast. He was 54 years old. Too young to die. So many more moments to experience.

When I think of Mike I will always think of his generosity and his unconditional love that he had for his whole family. Just this past Easter after the grandchildren received their goodies he sent the older kids on a hunt where we found gift cards to Chilis. He was always thinking like that and that was one of the many endearing things about him. He loved his kids yes, but he loved his grand kids with a passion. Kate, of course, took to him right away. She rocked with her Pops in his rocking chair every time we went over to their house. I was always so impressed with how peaceful she was in his arms. My most fond memory of Mike was of the night that Kate was born. He had been working all day and was very tired and did not feel well. However, he came to the hospital at 11 pm that night. He had to make sure we were ok. I remember him walking into my hospital room kissing me on the forehead and saying, "She's beautiful Bets. I love you." These are the memories I will always have of Mike. Jared got to spend a lot time with his Dad in the past few months which was such a precious gift for him. He knew that his Dad was truly happy the night before he died. Playing golf was their favorite thing to do together. Mike was always happiest when he could spend more time with his kids and grand kids. He just loved his family. And the best gift that he gave us was that we KNEW it.