Cute

Memorial and Hidden Peak - Albion Lodge - Alta Ski Area - April 17, 2013

The Albion Lodge at Alta Ski area was standing room only that day.  Our best guess was that over 300 people showed up to pay respects. Each and every person in that room had been touched by the empowering spirt of your Dad.   Amazing!

First tram at Snowbird was reserved for a special gathering on Hidden Peak.  The group huddled in the cold blowing snow, tears on our checks and whiskey in hand (Hot Coco for you).  Stones were stacked each barring a final goodbye prayer as the spring snow blew steadily across the pile lifting the messages into the sky. Some had been painted, others banned with stickers and patches, some just plain.  Then a toast to honor the son, husband, father and friend (at which time Geoff managed to spilled his whiskey....your Dad was laughing for sure!) that we had all lost just days before.

The eulogies were beautiful crafted.  Each one telling a unique story, yet all centered on the common theme....how Craig was just one of those guys you will never forget! There was a lot of tears, laughter and disbelief.

    





 

In honor of Craig's love for baking, a master piece of sweets was displayed and were devoured! 

Of course, none as good as his biscotti or chunky cookies. 

I am not sure how a 6 year old mind is able to process an event like this

but I do know that the chocolate kept a smile on your face!

 A slideshow followed, documenting the life that your Dad managed to stuff into his short 34 years here on earth.

Birthday

April 3, 2014,

Dear Craig, 

I write this note so that some day, Kaya will have it to refer back to. 

Today is your 35th birthday.  We celebrated your day by having Renae and Kaya over for a yummy dinner.  I thought for sure, you would walk in with Renae and Kaya…then I remembered.  It doesn't come easy, you being gone.

Geoff made an asian stir fry with shrimp, I made a salad, Renae brought home baked cookies (from a box!) and whiskey (of course) to share.  We all shared the best part of our day.  Kaya's was powder skiing with her mom and Renae's was watching Kaya powder ski.  We laughed.  We toasted you.  We missed you.  Though your time with us was brief, you left your mark.  Whiskey is the best cocktail to share with friends, there is nothing like a good cookie (whether made from scratch or a box), and sharing a good meal with friends and family is about one of the nicest ways to spend an evening.  I found this quote and I think it is fitting as we near the 1 year mark that you left us. 

We are changed.

-Heidi

HEIDI LANE

Like Family

When you move “Out West”, often you are leaving behind your family. In the process of exchanging Ohio for granite cliffs, or trading Iowa for powder fields, or replacing New York with remote trails, we often lose out in close family relationships. This is tough.

Sure, visits are made. Weeks here and there. They come out and stare wide-eyed at the peaks you climb. You go back for a bit and confuse people with your goggle tan. But where is the family?

Those of us in this situation tend to gravitate towards each other, magnetized together, perhaps by the vacuum created by a lack of kin. Bonds are made, friendships formed. Holidays are spent together, traditions are built.  Instead of Aunt Martha at your dinner table on Thanksgiving, it’s the guy you skied with yesterday. Instead of church with your parents on Easter, it’s a neighborhood Egg Hunt and Bloody Mary’s at your friend’s house.  

When there is a loss in this type of community, it reverberates loudly. It stings. The loss of Craig Patterson has left a gap in this network of “family”.  We shared holidays like brothers would. He chased my kids around the yard like the crazy Uncle would. He’d recount his adventures of yesteryear like Grandpa would, and he baked biscotti like Grandma would.  Craig made people feel welcome like family. His smile beamed when listening to your latest adventure, like a proud mother. His eyes were wide, gleaming with excitement about the next adventure to come. To be in Craig’s family, all you had to do was smile back, plan the next outing, and bring your enthusiasm.

I think about you often, Craig. I feel the space that you have left in our family and community. I can only hope to fill it with the love, spirit, laughter, and adventures that you brought and shared so willingly. 

Chip DuRoss

Boots

It has been hard to sit down and write this.  It feels uncomfortable to try and summarize my relationship with Craig, or who Craig was, in a few paragraphs.  Then, I realized I don’t have to do that.  Memories, thoughts, and stories will continue to arise and I will share them with Kaya, Renae, and my own family.  Although we have lost Craig in the flesh, he had the kind of spirit that doesn’t just leave your heart or memory.

It feels odd to find comfort when grieving in a pair of telemark boots, but I have.  I have been wearing these clunky yellow Scarpas for 7ish years now.  Some might say I need a new pair, but, I love them.  Partially because now, they are a reminder of my connection to, Craig.  He helped me afford what I wanted at the time.  I paid a whopping $20 through the “puppy dog” sale at Black Diamond for those beauties.  That is better than even the best pro deal out there- practically free.  The reason I love that memory and how they connect to Craig, is because in some small way, it represents a few things about him.  He loved to get around “the man”.  I don’t think I was supposed to be able to buy anything at that sale, but he didn’t care.  If it meant I was going to get out more, have more fun, and spend less money- check, check, and check. He was in.   In some ways, he was very focused on safety and rules, and in many other ways, I felt like he was a trailblazer, someone who was willing to think outside the box, and someone who felt confident setting his own rules and trusting in his priorities and values.

Which brings me to my next thought.  Craig, was a person, mind, and soul of opinion and passion who was not afraid to share it with others.  Sometimes this would be in your face.  Craig and I definitely had a lovingly confrontational relationship, and man, I miss that.  Many people are afraid of saying what they think, myself included.  It is scary to risk being judged, disagreed with, and quantified somehow by an opinion, thought process, or set of feelings that might change or pass with time.  Craig, on the other hand, told you what he thought, why, and often, what I should do with that information- God bless his soul. J  And what I loved about this whole process is that it was usually a fun, lighthearted, playful conversation full of meaning, challenges, and complexity.  

I love how he pushed me to realize that I need to stop focusing on how overwhelmed I feel sometimes, and stay focused on what is important to me- getting my kids and family into the wilderness, probably via a raft, despite all the work it entails.  He is the only one who could look me in the eye and tell me to get over myself.  Twins?  Twin toddlers.  Lots of gear, risks, and preparations?  Whatever.  “Stop making excuses, Audrey.”  Literally, that is what he would say to me.  Sometimes this would make me feel reactive.  I would think, “he does not get it”, but the truth is, he did.  And, thank god he didn’t keep it to himself.  He and I shared this stubbornness common to those born in April.   That boldness is something I like and value in a friend.  

Another part of Craig that I miss is his seemingly unending love.  I know passion is a word many people have used in connection with his name.  Passion, to me, is an intense manifestation of love.  He just loved to love, and I loved to be the recipient of that.  I think anyone who was close to him can attest to the genuine warmth you could feel when in conversation with him.  His smile, encouragement, and interest felt like a warm understanding embrace.  

I will do my best to live life with a full and yet, light, heart.  That, to me, captures, Craig Patterson.  

Audrey DuRoss