We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect night last night for what we refer to as Christian’s wishing night. There was laughter. There was tears. There were family and friends and children excited, laughing…. joyful. Just as they should be. Just as Christian would have been. Because anyone who knew Christian knows how important his birthday was to him. What better excuse for a party, a get together, a “shindig” as he would have said. So I deleted my sad post focused on all the things Christian lost and decided to write about all the things he gave. Besides being a jokester, a peacemaker, constant negotiator and protector….. his best gift to everyone was being a memory maker.
Christian could take any ordinary day or event and make into a loud, sarcasm loaded, chaotic, center of attention getting day. Whether it was with Hannah/Zach & Friends at Spring Break or Taylor and Todd building sea walls there was going to be fun had by all and memories made to last a lifetime. This was not a gift he developed over time. The gift of fast talk and shenanigans was something he was born with. From sneaking to his aunt’s home and removing all the tire plugs from her party guests cars to setting the hillside on fire resulting in the volunteer fire department to make a practice run…. there were memories made. But lets be honest here, the fire department needed the practice anyway. When you really think about it, Christian was providing a community service in giving the responders some practice… Right?
I envy Alexa all the memories she has of Christian. The stories she tells of riding around in his truck with his friends. Forging an unbreakable bond between the two at an early age due to the potential for blackmail. Christian was no dummy. He knew to keep Alexa close so when she wanted to ride his dirt bike but couldn’t he just locked her up in the dog kennel, tied her to his dirt bike and drug her across the pasture. His version of country style tubing. She survived without permanent brain damage we think…..
And when Christian and Josh built a swing across the creek and Alexa was too small to swing. No problem. He and Josh engineered a contraption out of a book bag. Nothing to it, just cut some holes at the bottom of the book bag for her legs, tie a rope to the straps and hoist her up from a tree limb. Problem solved…. They were nice enough to give her a shove when they swung by to keep her swinging back and forth. She was probably 1 at the time. Todd was totally supervising this production. RIGHT???
But one of the most memorable Christian moments was when he was 4 or 5 and our preacher came to visit. Brother Tommy got a little more than he bargained for that day. Christian buck naked except for his cowboy boots, cowboy hat and a grin standing on a tree limb, not a care in the world. Brother Tommy left pretty fast. Todd said he would have never guessed that was the way to get rid of the preacher man and the deacon.
So many stories… so many memories. We didn’t realize at the time that Christian was making a lifetime of memories for us in a short lifespan. Christian didn’t know he was creating his masterpiece of work to give to the rest of us. Leaving something to smile about, laugh over and bring us back together to remember him again and again.
I guess God knew what he was doing when he gave Christian the gift of being a memory maker.
Happy Birthday Christian Shane Andreacchio….. we miss you more than you would have ever imagined.