Friday, January 15, 2021
I have so many memories of Tom, and of course they also included LaDawn, they were a matched set. I met Tom and LaDawn at Harmony Bowl in Colorado Springs in 1984. Wow, over 35 years ago, how time flies. We all enjoyed bowling and our friendship blossomed. Then Tom and LaDawn invited us to their Halloween Parties. They had one every year and they were soooo much fun. Everyone laughing, dancing, eating and sharing a bit of Tom's Black Velvet, going "Trick or Drinking" in the back of Tom's black El Camino, traipsing barefoot through the cactus in their back yard and the list goes on forever! The camping trips we took were very memorable and we did a lot of them over the years. When you get 5 or 6 families camping around a campfire there is always something going on. The most memorable trip was one to a little campground at the base of the dam on John Martin Reservoir. The second day we were surprised by a tornado that touched down about 100 feet from our camp. That in itself would have been exciting, but Tom and I tried to rescue our inflatable fun island that had popped out from under his Suburban and blew across the little dirt road. He and I ran over to it and we each grabbed a side, then the next thing we knew, we were off the ground. Thank God the island was ripped from our hands because we never saw it again. It was claimed by the tornado that we did not see coming across the top of the dam. That was the first and last camping trip that Ginger went on! Then, of course, if you knew Tom and LaDawn, there were cruises!!! I remember the first one I went on with them - on Royal Caribbean's Song of America to the western Caribbean, and they got me hooked. Unfortunately, I was only able to join them on four different cruises but they were always a true experience - walking through Old Town and El Morro in Puerto Rico, climbing Dunn's River Falls in Jamaica, lounging in hammocks on the beach at Labadee, the Shows on the ship, the wine tastings and the best of all, was dining on the ship. There was always a group that went on the cruises, and dinner was a large table with lots of fun - wine was always a necessity, multiple orders of main dishes and desserts, lots of tasting and laughter. In all of my memories for 36 years, no matter what was going on or whatever we were doing, you could always count on Tom to have his camera ready and recording it all. You will be missed
(719) 207-8855
