Anniverary dates are hard sometimes

Today is the 4th anniversary of Cavan's death. On Nov. 6th, 2005, Cavan went with his friend Dale to a motorcycle racing track in Jennings, FL for practice day. Cavan called me the night before and told me he had finally built a motorcycle from scratch and that he was going to race it the next day. Bob and I received a phone call from Shands Hospital in Gainesville, FL at about 2 p.m. that Sunday afternoon that Cavan had been in an accident and he had a grave brain injury. Bob and I threw some things in an overnight bag and drove three hours to Gainesville. We prayed all the way there that he would be alright. We met all of Lauren's family and several of her friends there. Cavan & Lauren were married four months prior. We all waited throughout the night for anyone to come tell us that Cavan was OK. Bob and I tried to sleep in the waiting room chairs -- with the light on. The next day, November 7th, we were all called into a large conference room where several doctors told us that they had done many tests and that Cavan was no longer living. We all were devastated to say the least. I went back into the hospital room where Cavan was lying and told him "good-bye". This was the hardest thing I've ever had to do.

Since no one actually saw the accident happen, the racers at the track can only guess. Cavan's friend Dale said that he and Cavan were trying to get around a pack of racers on the track and that Dale got around them, but when he looked back, Cavan wasn't there. Dale searched on his own for Cavan, then he contacted an official. The race that was going on at the time had been stopped and everyone looked for Cavan. He was found "deep in the woods" that surround the track. They think that the brakes on Cavan's motorcycle had failed and that he went off the track at a curve. That curve now has an air net on it.

This photo was taken in Monterey, CA where Cavan was living for a year when he went to graduate school. He built this bicycle that he is sitting on.