Lindsay's
Dress
Drew
used to get the lecture, "Don't be stupid"
when he'd be dropped off somewhere by his mom. As
Drew got older, the "stupid" part seemed a
bit negative. He and his mom decided the better
phrase would be "Be Smart". Lindsay, Drew's
sister needed a black dress to wear at his viewing
and funeral. Their Aunt Cyndy took Lindsay shopping
for a new dress. Without knowing what phrase was had
been used between Drew and his mom, we were amazed by
the label of the dress that Lindsay and her aunt
purchased ...
"Be Smart"
Mom's
Poem
Drew's
mom knew she wanted to do something special for his
funeral, but was unsure exactly what. The day before
the funeral she woke up and mentioned to me (Drew's
dad) that she knew what she wanted. She was a little
frantic because she wanted to have someone read a
poem for her, but was unsure as to who the author
was. I knew that Mr. Yeager, Drew's English teacher
would know, so I left word to have him call me.
Within an hour, Mr. Yeager returned my call. I
mentioned that Drew's mom wanted to read a poem, but
couldn't remember who the author was. I began to tell
him that it was the poem recited in the movie
"Four Funerals and a Wedding" (I transposed
the title "Four Weddings and a Funeral")
and before I could go any further, he stopped me and
said "I know what your want". I began to
tell him again, and again he stopped me and said
"I know what you want". He proceeded to
tell me that after hearing of Drew's accident, he
began to go through some of his poems and had
selected a few. Mr. Yeager knew which poem we wanted,
and told me that the poem was sitting on his desk. It
was one that he had selected the previous day. He
sent a copy to us and it was read at Drew's funeral
as a special reading from mother to son. You can read
it under the Poems link titled "Song IX by W. H.
Auden". Thanks Mr. Yeager.
Writing
on the Wall
Rick
was worried that he hadn't let Drew know that he
loved him before he was gone. A couple of days after
we lost Drew, Rick had a dream. In the dream, Drew
appeared in Rick's room. On all of the walls was
written ...
I know.
Freebird
Hey
Drew. Just wanted to say Hi and to tell you how
touched I was at the football game yesterday. It was
amazing how stong your parents and sister are for
everyone. Everyone was upset and crying for you. I
started to cry when I heard them play your song,
"Freebird." I still can remember the day
you brought your song into my math class and we
listened to it when we did our group work. Did you
know that you were the only student I ever allowed to
play a song other than my classical music. The only
other time I ever heard that song again was when I
was shooting pool in Georgia with my boyfriend and
his cousin on June 18, 1999. It was the day that they
had that memorial service for you on the football
field at school. I was so upset that day because I
wasn't going to be there because I was leaving for
Georgia, but you had a way of making me feel like I
was there when I heard your song. It was the weirdest
thing in the world. .... Love always, Miss Caponigro.
Rock
On
I was
watching the news not long after Drew's accident. I
thought it interesting that in a game with the St.
Louis Cardinals, during J.D. Drew's first game in
Philly after holding out from signing with the
Phillies, J.D. Drew won the game with a home run. The
news camera panned to the outfield after the home
run, to show 2 teenage girls holding up a sheet, with
a sign painted on it that read "Rock On
Drew". We had been using that phrase to indicate
our belief that Drew's memory lives on.
A
Sign
Well,
the cheerleaders just got back from camp and we did
excellent!! We won many awards to bring back to
school. But, I really wanted to tell u about
something weird that happened. On the last night
(camp was 3 nights, 4 days) we had to do a team game.
What u did was make 2 lines facing each other, and
one at a time, each person would walk down the line
and receive a compliment from each team member. They
always play music during this time so that you can
really get into the game. Well, the song that they
played was the one that the boys sang at Drew's
funeral. After we heard that, we got in a circle and
said a hail mary for him. Before I left I had asked
Drew to send me a sign and right then I knew that was
it. He was looking out for us the whole week at camp.
We also wore ribbons on our shirts for him and also
for good luck. That was a really awesome sign. ...
love, Lexi
Lark
Those
of you that know us, know that we have 2 Bernese
Mountain Dogs. Matt is the more outgoing male,
and Lark is the more shy female. The stairs
leading upstairs to our bedrooms are fairly steep and
Lark never goes up them on her own (I sometimes have
to carry her up for her bath). The morning of
the day of Drew's accident, Lark ventured up the
stairs, and was wandering around Lindsay's room which
leads up to Drew's room. She would normally
come to find Mr. Rubel (me), but for some reason she
seemed upset and was looking for something (or
someone) else. Over the next several days she
would go to the bottom of the stairs wanting to go
up. We don't know what she wanted, but we think
that she knew something was up, and was looking for
Drew.
The
Plaque
We got
a catalog at the local trophy shop to check out the
different types of plaques that were available.
We wanted to get a couple of plaques to hang in Paul
VI and St. Lawrence Schools for the Scholarship
Fund. I had an idea of what I was looking for,
but was only able to find one in the entire catalog
that looked like what I wanted. Next to this
plaque was a sample plaque for a soccer team ... the
"Drew Soccer Team". At that point we
knew we found the right one.
My
Diet Coke
I was
watching a Canadian band early in the afternoon
during the Woodstock '99 weekend. It was before
any of the friends and family came over to watch with
us (see the Drewoodstock pictures on the web).
An hour or so before, I had placed a Diet Coke in the
freezer to get cold a little quicker hoping that I
wouldn't forget to get it out before freezing, like I
usually do. Well, I forgot, but while the lead
singer for the band was speaking to the crowd, he
said something about not forgetting to get it out of
in the freezer. I'm not sure what he was
talking about, but I think it was Drew reminding me
about what I had forgotten. I got the Diet Coke
which was very cold and not frozen.
The
Understanding
On his last
birthday we were all sitting in play rehearsal. A lot
of people went to see his grave, but I wasn't ready
(because I had never been there before ... I didn't
know how I was going to handle it). It was
pouring rain outside and my friend Kylie and I, for
some reason, felt a need to go outside and stand in
the school parking lot in the rain. We were talking
about Drew, and I was saying that hopefully one day I
could get the courage to go.
Well
some kind of force kept us out in the freezing
pouring rain, and all of a sudden we both looked to
the sky, the rain stopped and it was a huge beautiful
rainbow! It was as if he was saying that he
understands why couldn't visit him right away, and
that one day he knows that I'll be there. He is
really an angel. Thanks, Sharon Radisch.
More
to come ...
Questions
may be sent to Frankie Rubel
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