Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
|
|
|
Dec 19, 2008 - 11:48pm PT
|
I wish all of the bereaved good memories of Pete over the
holiday season which is so hard for the survivors.
Rest in peace, Pete.
|
|
Molly A
Social climber
Lander
|
|
|
Feb 24, 2009 - 11:25am PT
|
I'm not sure who, if anyone checks this forum anymore. I haven't in a long time, but this has been a hard week for me and I found myself circling back to the virtual community that helped me through those early months after Pete died. Avery and I are doing well really, but this morning there was a rainbow arcing out over Red Butte and pointing to the land that Pete and I own and where we shared so many good times together and with our friends. For some reason that rainbow felt both like a sign from Pete and a reminder of the fact that I will never see him again, never touch him again, never be with him again... and that breaks my heart all over again. I have healed and have found new love and happiness, but as people who have lost loved ones know, the scars are thin and easily reopened in spite of how life moves on. I miss you Pete. I still feel as if you have been stolen from us too soon.
For all those who have written here or who come here sometimes, thank you for your support. It helps.
|
|
SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
|
|
|
Feb 24, 2009 - 11:36am PT
|
Molly
I can't know how hard it must be for you and Avery.
I wish that I knew some words that might bring comfort to
you both.
Remember the good times.
I hope in time your grief will abate.
Take care.
|
|
nita
climber
chica from chico, I don't claim to be a daisy
|
|
|
Feb 25, 2009 - 02:45am PT
|
Molly, sorry to hear you've had a hard week. You are still in our hearts and prayers. Sending Love and Peace. ..nita
|
|
dipper
climber
|
|
|
Feb 25, 2009 - 02:50am PT
|
Molly,
You are not alone.
I wish you and Avery all the best.
Especially Avery.
|
|
Mary Absolon
climber
Edina, Minnesota
|
|
|
Mar 29, 2009 - 11:39pm PT
|
March 30, 2009
And on this day that Pete was born, we think of him.
His wonderful smile, his joy of family and friends...daughter Avery and wife Molly...
A gift for our lives, forever.
We celebrate his life today and "party" knowing he is
smiling and laughing right along with us.
With Love always,
Mary
|
|
neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
|
|
|
Mar 29, 2009 - 11:53pm PT
|
hey there dear mary... say, thank you so very kindly for your share....
may the good lord send you many more special memories, that have been tucked away for so long....
may they come in new and speical ways..
god bless so much...
|
|
Fletcher
Trad climber
the end of the world as we know it, & I feel fine.
|
|
|
Mar 30, 2009 - 12:02am PT
|
While we all may not be speaking, many are hearing you Mary. And we all are celebrating Pete on this day.
Peace,
Eric
|
|
Topper Wilson
Trad climber
Pueblo, CO
|
|
Mary,
Thanks for posting Pete's b-day. I knew it was sometime around early spring but could not remember.
Molly, Avery,
I come back to this string periodically, just to check in. I'm sure there are many that do come back too and that have not posted for want of something to say. Death is a hard part of life.
Some of my memmories of Pete are so vivid that I can see him today. The most powerful seem to be those of his mannerisms, not all the years of climbing we did. This surprises me though I suppose it should not for we had a strong bond.
Here are a few which I hope I've described adequately enough to crack a smile... When Pete wanted to challenge something someone had said, he'd stick his neck forward and quickly say, "what-do-ya-mean?" His eyes would be intense and inquiring, his tone incredulous. Other times, when he was jazzed about something, he'd move his head, forward then backward, forward then backward, much like a robitic chicken. When he was really happy, he'd walk around doing that. He was in his groove, no doubt about it! His happy smirk is a powerful memory too...
Hope all who knew and love Pete are doing well.
Best,
Topper
|
|
scuffy b
climber
Frigate Matilda
|
|
Hey, Thanks, Topper.
That description got me to crack a smile, as well.
|
|
Mary Absolon
climber
Edina, Minnesota
|
|
Hey everyone...
How ya doin?
Mannerisms...Topper you are so right...It reminds me of when the Aves said, "My daddy is funny". Yes Aves, he was so funny and all these wierd mannerisms just were in our midst making
us feel good all under when my dear brother was around...
so...see ya...
xoxo
Mary
|
|
COT
climber
Door Number 3
|
|
Pete in a hail storm during the first one day ascent of the Original Route on Mt Hooker Wind River Range 2002
|
|
scuffy b
climber
Frigate Matilda
|
|
That's one happy looking guy.
Probably freezing his buns off, too.
|
|
COT
climber
Door Number 3
|
|
Ya, he is smiling because all I brought for rain gear was a big trash bag bag. We were only half way up the route and had just climbed a huge traverse, so rapping was going to be problematic. Luckily the hail storm only lasted an hour and we continued up topping out just before dark.
|
|
Mary Absolon
climber
Edina, Minnesota
|
|
|
May 25, 2009 - 09:19am PT
|
Memorial Day
May, 2009
Hi Everyone~
On this Memorial Day weekend, I think of my brothers, Pete and Fritz. They are laughing as I write this and probably would be driving me crazy if they were both in the same room with me now! I "visit" the places where we laughed together as kids...I think of us up in northern Minnesota on beautiful, glacier created Batson Lake where we fished and shot targets with my grandfather who we called, Paka, and had so much fun together.
We always had tons of mosquito bites and we ate fresh fish alot.
May a fun memory be with you today as you think of Pete....and cherish the gift of time we had with him.
Mom has read and re-read all of Peter's Supertopo comments several times over this past year. She said it is amazing the number of people that Pete touched during his life and that she only learned of many of these by your comments on supertopo. Thank you to all who gave us this living gift.
Love,
Mary
Pete's sister
|
|
Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
|
|
|
May 25, 2009 - 09:44am PT
|
Best wishes to Pete's family.
Rick
|
|
Chinchen
climber
Living on the road
|
|
|
May 25, 2009 - 01:00pm PT
|
This makes me angry! Im so sorry about your loss. Condolences to you and your little one.
|
|
Molly A
Social climber
Lander
|
|
Wow, i haven't been here in a while and so was very moved to see new posts. Thanks for hanging in there with us and continuing to share. It is very meaningful for me and I am grateful, especially as I feel my memories of Pete become less vivid. I'm writing about Pete's story now for a memoir-writing class and have found myself frustrated at times by my inability to recreate his voice, to see him in motion, or relive conversations. There's so much about him that I find has slipped away or become one-dimensional like a photograph, so hearing the memories of others is wonderful. It fills in these gaps that make me sad...
Thanks.
|
|
Evel
Trad climber
the cliffs of insanity
|
|
Molly, I think of Pete often and just wrote a short story for Mountain Gazette but it didn't get accepted, so I'll try to dig it up and send it to you.
Warmest Regards, Rick Mix
|
|
Mary Absolon
climber
Edina, Minnesota
|
|
|
Jun 23, 2009 - 10:58pm PT
|
Molly Herber, Pete's neice, is on a NOLS Mountaineering course in Cascade Mountains of Washington State June-July, 2009.
She was honored with 3rd place in her high schools Steinman Poetry Award 2009. She wrote this after deaths of a former classmate, teacher and uncle Pete. Molly spent the summer of 2008 on the NOLS Mountaineering Course Wind River where she said spent much time thinking of him.
Dust
I reach out, but you slip through my fingers like
scorching golden sand. Colors bleed from the
bleached bones of memories, crumble to dust in my hand.
I squint into the blinding white glare, trying to see your face;
The hard light ricochets off a thousand
lingering, scattered impressions, but of you there's no trace.
The brittle skeletons of our memories surround me,
fallen carelessly among the comfortless rocks.
In the searing heat I inhale their rising dust,
taste their stale flavor, my mouth as dry as chalk.
If I could just hear you breath, feel your heartbeat,
hold you close one more time, I could never thirst for
water or shade again, just to hear your voice
trickle like rain, a soothing chime.
But the frail memories still crack and crumble to dust
in my hand; Their distorted glimmers sting my
eyes as I sit alone in the sand.
I unconsciously slip a little dust into my pocket,
guided by instinct or moronic hope. I'm not ready to
let you go yet, to turn around and leave the desert
I'm clinging to like a falling climber to a rope.
But when I am, I can reach into my pocket and
think of you, My gentle shade, my earth-scented
breeze, my water clean and cool.
The dust lining my pockets, ground into my skin,
is my treasure, and you are the dust; Just remember me,
and I will never forget you.
You will not be lost.
Molly Herber 2009
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!