A few of Becky's memories

My memories of John…
John was born 15 months before me, so since I can remember I was always tagging along with him. I wanted to be just like him. I went everywhere he went and did everything he did. He was so patient and kind about it too. He even let me follow him to the bathroom. I was so mad that mom wouldn’t let me stand like John when I went to the bathroom.

One time I wanted to be in a ninja club with him and my older siblings. John voted me to be in it, but the majority voted me out. I didn’t get to be in it. I was so sad. John comforted me and always would remind me that he wished I could go with him into the secret meetings in Ben’s room.
John would take care of me.

I remember countless times that he took the blame for me. One specific time, I took some of the cookies Mom had made for visiting teaching. Mom was mad because baking cookies without burning them while taking care of eight kids was quite the task. She lined all us kids up and told us we couldn’t leave until we told her who did it. The older kids were getting mad because no one would fess up, and they had places to go. John knew I took the cookies, but he told my mom he did it so I wouldn’t get in trouble and the older kids could go.

One of my favorite memories of John was going to swim lessons every summer. We went through every class they had waiting for Kathy to learn to swim. It was always fun being in his classes. We had a good time swimming, daring each other to do crazy tricks of the high dive, and playing around (probably a little to much). One time one of our teachers had a huge booger by his nose. We were laughing all class about it, but wouldn’t tell him why we were laughing. A parent told him about it at the end of class. We called the teacher some name like boogey the rest of the summer.

John and I played outside with the cul-de-sac clan any time we could. We played spaceship in our olive tree. Kathy would have her quarters at the first branch. I was a little higher up, but John was the bravest, and he was always at the top.

We played at the Kaufold’s all the time. Usually Jimmy and John played in Jimmy’s room and Elaine, Kathy, and I in Elaine’s room. However, every now and then we would go in the back yard together and have GI Joes save the barbies. The boys would pretend that someone would try to hurt our barbies, then they would have to start a war to defend us. The rest of the time they sat on one side of the back yard fighting. We were on the other side preparing for them to come home.

In the Wendt’s backyard, we would have dance contests. Danny Brown usually one because he was the judge, but one time John one. I was so proud that my brother could beat Danny. John wasn’t that great of dancer back then, but over the years he became a good dancer. He learned to swing and move girls around the dance floor pretty smoothly.

When John was determined to do something he did it. Whether it was Jumping a picnic table on rollerblades, kissing 10 girls in one day, or Marring the girl he fell in love with before he had to go back to Texas, he made it happen. One time when we were kids, he was determined to ride the sit and spin longer and faster than all of us kids in the Wendt’s back yard. We all took our turns. Then John got on. He went so fast and so long. He beat us all by a long shot. We were all amazed. He stood up proud, smiled, and then turned around and puked his guts up. I learned then that it didn’t matter what it took, if John wanted to do something, he did it.

One memory I have, John and I became notorious for. We had to stay at the table and finish dinner. Everyone else was done, and mom had to go somewhere, so we where there by ourselves. We didn’t like the squash. However, we found that the squash was good for something. If you mixed it with the spaghetti, it helped the spaghetti stick to the wall very well. The brand new wall paper my mom had just put up that day was covered in our spaghetti/ squash mixture. My mom was a little mad, to say the least. She kicked us out of the house and told us we would have to sleep in the back yard until we promised to clean the wall. We were determined to live out there the rest of our lives. But when it got dark, we decided we would rather face Mom than the wild animals that come out at night. The wall never came clean. My mom left it up for years and it always made for a good story when company asked about it.

John was the best brother you could have as a teenager. He was the most fun, craziest, kindest guy around. Everyone loved him. Because of that he had the largest circle of friends, and he included me in it. Every weekend we were together doing some big group date or activity. It was awesome. John was the life of the party. I am grateful he let me tag along.

John always included everyone. He didn’t like anyone feeling left out. He always made a special effort to make everyone feel special. I think that is why all of my friends and almost every girl I knew fell in love with him, or at least kissed him.

John had a way with people. He could make anyone smile, and if within five minutes of talking to John a stranger felt like John was there long lost best friend. One time, we were staying at a beach house in Mexico. We were down at the beach. The guy at neighboring house was down there too. I said hi. He just looked at me like with this grumpy look. I thought he was scary. John started talking to him. In two minutes they were laughing together. He ended up being real nice. John was that way. He brought out the best in people. He made them feel good about themselves. I was jealous of his ability to see people for the good in them, and how he could bring it out.

Another example of John’s ability to make friends easily with people is when John came to visit me in Tucson. He took my kids and his to the zoo. I had always wanted to feed the Giraffes at the zoo, but I was never there in time. I would ask a zoo keeper if there was any way we could feed them. They would tell me, “If you come at the right time, you can.” Well when John started talking to one of the zoo keepers, the guy was instantly a friend to him. He took John not only to feed the Giraffe, but into the Giraffe enclosure where the zoo keepers feed them. He worked magic with people.

John was able to work magic with people because he truly loved them. He loved serving them. He would do anything he could to help. I still want to be more like him. Unfortunately I can’t follow him around everywhere he goes anymore, but I can still try to emulate all of his amazing qualities. I love him. I will miss him greatly, and my kids will miss their "Crazy Uncle John".