This picture was taken after lunch on the last day Joel and I had the pleasure of skiing together. Ironically, I think we skiied in the best snow conditions we had ever skied in; it snowed the night before and all day long; there was powder everywhere. Joel and I spent a good portion of the day by ourselves, going up and down the mountains at Keystone and Arapahoe Basin as many times as we could fit in. During the afternoon everyone in our family met up and skied together.

    The memories I have from that trip will never leave me, skiing is something we always have done as a family. Joel was a pretty quiet guy and I tend to be that way also, so we never exchanged a lot of words, but we had a lot more in common than other people knew. I think I intimidated Joel sometimes because things always came easy to me. I did well at Central High School so some of the teachers he had may have expected more from him, since I did so well as a student there.

    Even though Joel and I didn't hang out together too much during the last couple years of his life (since I was away at college), we still had a good time together when we had the opportunity. I loved him to death and tried to get him to tell me how things were going, but mostly he'd just smile and we'd play video games or listen to music together.

    Joel was always around to give a helping hand; I don't know anyone else who was so willing to help people out for free. If I was changing my oil or moving things around, Joel would always help. Unfortunately, during the last year of his life his girlfriend monopolized most of his time, but the time we did spend together I will never forget. Of all things, I think I will remember that last ski trip the most.

Last updated January 12, 2007