Well, Jason is a great person, and always seems to hit my heart when I see good people in the world we live in. He is just all about the good things in life. I'm his uncle Joe, and in 2006 or so went to 11 mile res, just out side of Lake George CO. We took the boat out (more of a cabin pig), and I thought....agggh 1/4 tank is fine, let's go cruisin down to the dam. Next thing, Ku chug, ku chug. I'm out of gas. I said Jas, take the line. We anchored in deep water near the dam. He said "no problem". Right away a small fishing boat came up and asked if they could help. I went with them back to the marina, then ran about two miles to get 2 gallons, then a guy with an old ford bronco brought me back to the marina and the same two fishermen brought me back. We fired the motor back up and on back to the marina.
Although I botched the day up, Jason, still found enjoyment on the Colorado lake, and skies above him. Although I felt embarrassed about the whole thing, he made it a fun day joking about it all the way home. Jason is just a one of a kind!
To be honest i do not have enough memories with Jason. I was hoping to be closer friends with him. But the memories i do have are all great. My last memorie of Jason was one i am glad to have. With his sister, my close friend, Jason rode from Michigan to Chicago to see me for my moving party. The two Blouts arrived early in the day and we decided to get some food. He shared with me my second Turkish restaurant experience. I remember the food being good. Also i learned that the turkish know hot food and my tounge felt it for a while. The food however was not what was important for me. It was seeing my friends especially Jason enjoying some time together knowing opportunities like this were limited. We followed up the food with the best dessert ever! Custard from Scooters frozen Custard. The two were not able to stay much longer so we talked at my place for a little while, and then they left. I know i got a good goodbye in which is the most i can ask for. It was an honor for me to be friends with him. He was a blessing in my life and i am sure countless more. Although i did not see you much Jason, you will be missed. Love you man!
We were priviledged to get to know Jason through our son David. We have so many lovely memories of Jason. One of our favorite memories would have to be when Jason was visiting with us at our cottage. It was a beautiful Michigan summer day when we got Jason up, for the first time!, on water skis. He was so determined to get up and when he did there was much celebrating!! He enjoyed all the water sports the cottage had to offer and during the resting times he and Dave would be playing chess or fishing off the dock. We always treasured time spent with Jason. He was always so polite and interested in every conversation we would have. He was a wonderful Christian example in his everyday activities. He lived his life in a Christ centered way and we appreciated our times of Christian fellowship with him.
The second memory that we as a family always refer to is Jason's delight in my baked goods and meals. He came for many dinners at our home and we would always prepare extra for Jason. One dinner we specifically remember was on David's 20th birday. We made David's favroite meal of rotiserre chicken with the works. We all had our meal finished and Jason politely asked if he could have more, which we assured him was expected and he just kept eating and eating!!! It was a wonder to see. We so enjoyed preparing meals for Jason because of his appetite and appreciation for food. On his last visit to our home, I made him his favorite cookies and it was a joy for me to do so. He took them home to share with his Mom and brother and wrote such a lovely note thanking us.
We loved Jason and deeply mourn his passing. We know we will see him again and that gives us all great comfort.
Jason loved mountains. He went with us on our first backpacking trip to Wyoming. We went to the North Platt River and then to the Snowy Range in Medicine Bow National forest in the southeast part of the state. Two of the pictures in this album were taken above 10,000 ft near alpine lakes. The Snowy Range is incredibly beautiful and Jason just wanted to be on the top of every peak. Jason declined to go with us one morning when we went fishing for trout - he said he wanted to stay and read. About noon he checked in with us on our radios and he was on top of Brown's peak! He had hiked a long distance from our 10,000 ft camp to the top of this very steep 11,500 ft peak. So much for staying in camp and reading.
During the trip, my oldest son Dan taught him to fly fish. The picture of him holding the fish was the first fish he caught - and he caught it on a dry fly. He was very happy about that fish! And we were too.
If you look closely at the picture I attached, you'll see a very small human shape on the top of the mountain. On our way to the top of 12,000 ft Medicine Bow peak Jason climbed a smaller peak just because it was there! He had so much strength and endless energy. This picture makes me think of where he is now. Still there but far away. We can barely see him but he's on top of the mountain looking down at us. Find us mountains to climb and alpine lakes to fish with dry flies in that place Jason. We'll be there real soon.
I was Jason's baseball coach at Thornton HS.
Jason was the only player that was on all three of my varsity baseball teams while I was the head coach from 1999-2001. He was far and away one of the hardest working, most coachable kids I have ever been around. Kids like Jason are the reason I coach. They just want to soak it all in.
He used to have "carpe diem" written on the underside of the bill of his cap.
When I first introduced all the graduated freshmen to our signs at Thornton the summer of 1998, I told them they needed to have them all memorized by the next day. Jason came with a drawing of a Thornton Baseball player with all of the signs written near each of the corresponding body parts. But it was more thna your average drawing. It was a detailed, thoughtful diagram, unlike one I had ever seen before. This was over ten years ago and I remember it like it was yesterday.
We had off-season weightlifting after school. He was the only freshman who was there everyday. I can still remember thinking, "who the hell is this kid?"
When we went to Arizona over spring break of 2001, he caught a foul ball at one of the major league spring training games we went to. The excitement and expression on his face when he ran over to me to show it was and is still absolutely priceless.
I ran into him a few years ago and he was working in Sports Authority over in the Northglenn Marketplace. He was in the golf department. I asked him if he would be interested in helping me coach over here. He said he was and after I called and left a message, I never did hear back from him. He would have made a great coach. I wish I would have gotten the chance to see it.
Jason, you made me a better coach and a better person. Thank You.
