It's almost 7pm on Tuesday, and Eric has had another calm day. I am so thankful that he's had a break to recover after all the excitement last week. I've kind of put off writing a post all day because I didn't know what to say. No new things have changed, and he's slowly and surely working at getting better. I then realized that this blog has been passed around to many people, even to some who have never met him. It is so very touching to know that people all over the place have him in their thoughts and prayers, and are really rooting for Team Eric. I thought I'd take this time to share a little about him, so you have something to think about while reading his latest vital signs. : )
I first met Eric through a fairly strange connection. We both were in the Purdue Marching Band, but I would not have met him when I did if it wasn't for us each having high school friends that were cousins. As it was, Luke Horst needed a ride to Purdue to visit Eric and talked his cousin, Jessica (Lenz) Harper, into coming to visit me. Eric and I were both in the pep band for the women's basketball team, and that's where Luke and Jessica met us. Jessica then tells me that we were invited to hang out at Eric's apartment, so we follow them back. The only problem was that Luke didn't tell Eric and his roommates that he had invited us. So here we were following these guys home, and as Eric later said, "I had no idea why you were there, but I was NOT going to complain about a pretty blond following me home!"
Since then, I've come to find out what a great guy he is. He has the kind of personality that puts everyone at ease. He has a great sense of humor and a very contagious grin. He puts his whole heart into things that interest him, and spends countless hours on his hobbies such as cars, golf, basketball, home improvement projects, and as much as I hate to say it, Xbox. (But Melissa! Just ONE more game? Jon just came on to play, pleeeeeeease?!) Did I mention he's terribly persistant? He's also very patient, and takes time to teach people. He had the opportunity to teach a class called How Stuff Works while he was at Purdue, and absolutely loved it.
All in all, I miss him very much. I KNOW there are plenty of good Eric stories out there. Does anyone else want to share?
Love,
Melissa
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This was a fun post to read. Hang in there and thanks for all the updates!
ReplyDelete-Sarah Cotterman
I enjoyed that post, Melissa. One of my favorite Eric stories is that my daughter Margaret (Eric's cousin) took him to class with her in second grade, for show and tell. She wanted to show her class her cousin who was taller than Abraham Lincoln. Eric was not only willing, he seemed to enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteAunt Barb
As a former roomate, fellow Tuba player, and YMSH brother who has known Eric since 2002 I can say with conviction that there is not a single story that I can safely share on this blog with his parents and in-laws in the audience.
ReplyDeleteWith that said I am susceptible of bribes, and trust me you want to know half of what I've forgotten of the shenanigans over the years.
I'm sure we have nothing but the same ahead of us.
"The" Jeff
I've known Eric since he was a wee little lad through his sister, Sara, who is and still hope, one of my good friends. I remember our junior year in high school, the Lonn's were gracious enough to invite me to go along with them to Walt Disney World! So, in the car we went for the hours and hours drive down to WDW! I don't recall how old Eric was but I know that as a younger brother, he didn't irritate Sara or I on the entire trip, which was great. I know that he is a great guy with a good heart and that comes from his family!
ReplyDeleteYou are all in my thoughts and hope Eric finds the strength to fight and get better everyday, which I know he will! Keep up the good work, Eric. Also, thank you all for posting this blog. It really helps. Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I'm so happy things are calming down! It's nice to know that he isn't struggling with something new, on top of what already is on his plate. I'm glad things are improving too :)
ReplyDeleteAs for a memory; the time James and I met Eric and Melissa is worth telling. James and I love hanging out with Sarah Wallach and Matt Linker (our matron of honor and best man). They had been telling James and me for a long time how we would love Eric and Melissa (which of course turned out to be true). So when Melissa and Eric came to Mizzou for a football game, and we decided to play my new game (an engagement gift from Sarah and Matt) Harry Potter Clue. So before we started the game, we asked Eric if he knew the rules of regular clue, and he told us that he did. Yet when one person suspected Bellatrix Lestrange to be the culprit, Eric revealed his card (Bellatrix) to the entire table (instead of the one player who said the suspicion). Then we decided from then on, we would call him "Bellatrix" instead of Eric. We won't ever let him live that down.
Can't wait to see both of you again :)
Always in our prayers,
Jen Legorreta & James Cochran
Oh how I miss our silly lunches in the dining hall! We used to get together 2-3 times a week.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to lunch again. Shall we go to the Dining Hall for old times' sake?
Get well soon, buddy.
Joshua
Eric and I go as far back as any college friends. Evan Wisthuff and I lived down the hall from Eric his freshman year at Purdue. Since I had never seen anyone as tall as Eric before, I dubbed him "the tallest man in the world." The week before classes started, we walked to and from band together every day. After classes had begun, Evan and I would still walk home from band with Eric. After about a month, I realized we had not been walking with Eric recently. Sitting in my dorm room, I turned to Evan and said "What happened to the tallest man in the world?" As those words escaped my lips, Eric appeared in the doorway. After recovering from a large dose of irony, I asked Eric where he had been, and he replied "I had brain surgery." Who says that!? Eric and I still chuckle about that story today. It's funny because it's true.
ReplyDeleteGet better so Becky and I can visit. We miss the tallest man in the world.
I was a fellow tuba player with Eric in college. Or, rather he played the tuba and I goofed off as much as I could to avoid playing said tuba.
ReplyDeleteMy story is when I first noticed the connection between Eric and Melissa.
As Malissa previously mentioned, thye had met while members of the Purdue Marching band. As is procedure, the band annually has a large group photo taken for record of that year. This photo is taken with everyone in their full band uniform.
To help paint a virtual picture of this day, imagine central Indiana at 3pm, 80 degrees and 300 plus people wearing thick wool uniforms...MYSERY.
Melissa played the piccolo (a significantly smaller instrument than the tuba). The picc's had their own traditon on picture day. After the pictures had concluded, the entire piccolo section would run through the fountain located directly across from the photoshoot location. This fountain was designed so that people could run through it (as is tradition for Purdue Students). The Piccolo section (compised of 90% females runs through the fountain wearing their "Under-Uniform" consisting of a white t-shirt and black shorts. The ladies of the piccolo section add their own touch of everyone dawning a black brazier under their white t-shirts...and by everyone wearing black bra's I mean even the male players (that's another story).
I was in my Senior year that fall, when Eric and several other tuba players took it upon themselves to follow the piccolo section into the fountain and conduct general horseplay.
I was the guy standing on the sidelines with the camera (the SMART one).
Regardless, Eric in all his overtly tall and lumbering gracefullness ran through the fountain once or twice.
He then acted on an impulse that has now become a stapled traditon. He spotted a piccolo player who he thought to be particularly cute, slung her over his shoulder in the manner of a tuba, and ran her through the fountain. That piccolo player was Melissa Linker.
I knew that there was a definate spark between the two when, prior to putting her down off his shoulder, Eric wound up and gave Melissa a pronounced swat on the behind (I'm pretty sure I got a picture of it with some girl's camera).
You can imagine my shock when she didn't smack him when he put her down!
I walked home with Eric after all was concluded that day, and I was even more suprised when she seemed to follow him home.
They eventually started dating and the rest is history.
I'm going to marry Melissa's sister and I'm sure she hates that I tell this story...Eric thinks its funny :P
-Guido
Guido, you forgot to mention that while he ran me through the fountain, he also managed to smack my head against the metal cylinder in the center of the fountain when he turned around. : )
ReplyDelete-Melissa
To the extended family of Eric and Melissa,
ReplyDeleteWhen our son, Nick, had mentioned that he wanted to move off campus into a townhouse in Lafayette we naturally inquired who else was going to be with you. He said a couple of the other tuba players and mentioned Eric. As we didn't know Eric we said we'd like to meet him so on a cold weekend day Lee Nick and I stood in a forlorn parking lot as this noisy Mitsubishi Eclipse roars up into a parking space and this giant of a man unfolds himself from inside finally topping out taller than me! ( and I am pretty tall if you know me)
We proceeded across the street to Jimmy Johns and had sandwiches and drinks while we grilled Eric on the who, what, when, where, and why of himself. You're right, Melissa, Eric is the kind of person who puts you at ease without effort. We learned about his brain surgery and the bad car accident he'd had before and ended up thinking of him as our son. And the rest is history.
Nick thinks of Eric like the brother he never had and even though they've had their times I think they'll always be close. I know Lee and I will always think of Eric and Melissa as our adopted children. As stories go this one was not as cool as the fountain one, but just as heartfelt.
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference; just for today.
Where do I begin? I would say it was my first senior year on the formula team. I was working on something at the back of the car, and Eric was sitting there making something spectacularly shiny. I had noticed him around the shop for a few weeks (obviously he's gigantic), but it was more the way when he talked to everyone they smiled and laughed. Well that day I overhead him talk about picking out engagement rings. That's when I piped in and said "Hey I'm engaged!" so we talked about the finer things of diamond picking, and how it dominated our pocket books. It was then I knew this was someone I could be friends with, he liked cars and was engaged, a win win situation. We could hang out and do lame engaged college kids things.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't until a few days later that I knew it was to last. I found out he liked scotch, or he thought he liked scotch. However I had to inform him his opinion that everything Johnnie Walker (even blue label) was the "end all be all of scotch" was ill informed and amateurish. So we got together and I brought some fine single malt over. Since then we have become fast friends. It also didn't hurt that our now wives liked each other from the first time they met too. That's is my story, his version is probably different but oh well. I can't wait for him to get through this so we can drink something older than us out of crystal glasses and laugh together again.
Jon
I remember childhood NERF wars in the basement with Eric and Adam, swimming in the pool through the summer, all the afternoon basketball practices and long hours on the bus for away games, band practices in the freezing cold and even longer hours on the bus for band trips, all the years of scouting, Philmont, and all the other times when he was a great friend growing up. Can't wait to see you again, buddy!
ReplyDelete