We waved good-bye just before 7:00 AM

Just a little before 7:00 AM on Friday, September 16, 2005, my children and I waved good-bye to my husband, Dan.

It was a typical morning: we had packed the car for a busy day with skates and ballet clothes. Dan had packed lunches for the children. As we drove away from our house, I realized I forgot a folder that contained some scheduling information I needed for the day; Dan helped me conclude I could get by without the information for the day. We sipped coffee as we drove. (Dan made coffee every morning.)

When we reached the parking lot of the Colorado Springs World Arena, we said our good-byes to Dan, and he headed towards the bus stop near the World Arena that would bring a bus to pick him up at 7:08 AM and take him downtown. I remember telling him not to worry about helping us get into the rink on time like he usually did. I knew we were running a bit late and I didn't want him to miss his bus.

Nothing seemed unusual, but I knew Dan was tired. It had been a busy week. I'd gone to Denver with the children on Wednesday of that week for my children to have lessons with my brother, Billy. We'd left the house at 6:00 AM on that day and on Thursday morning, we'd also been up early. He'd got the oil changed in the car and he'd even mowed the lawn on one evening and put weed killer in the backyard. He'd taken my son to hockey evaluations and we'd been busy with our children performing in a stage production of CATS !

Yes, our life was full: it was directed by the children's activities and on Saturday, 9-10-05, we had spent some time alone together between CATS performances and had walked around downtown Colorado Springs holding hands and talking about our lives and our children. We had gone out to dinner together at a Japanese restaurant. We knew we were really busy!

Anyway, that Friday did not seem all that different. My son, Joel, was determined to skate by himself on an early morning freestyle, so we had been up since a little after 5:00 AM to prepare so we could make the 7:25 AM Freestyle session.

What a wonderful father Dan was, I thought, to be patient enough to wake up early every day for me and my children!

Little did I know that our lives would change forever as we kissed and waved good-bye to Daddy.