On Saturday, August 23rd, 2014, around 6:30am, after a crazy night of thunder and lightening (Tim's last party, loudest one I've heard since living in Utah), Timmers (my sister, Shauna's husband) returned home to our Heavenly Father. It was a beautiful, sunny morning with snow glistening on the mountains (a perfect August gift for his one true girl). He had suffered a massive stroke earlier in the week on Tuesday evening while in the park with four out of his five children. After massive swelling, extreme damage to his brain and brain stem, lack of responsive behavior and an extremely poor prognosis (full paralysis, no speech ability, feeding tube, full time nursing home, etc....if he woke up at all) he was removed from life support. My sister, Shauna, made the hard, selfless and loving decision to not prolong his suffering (after consulting multiple specialists). She has beyond amazed me with her strength and determination to do what was best for Tim and the kids and not herself. This sounds a little strange but Shauna has always been my second mom. She is the oldest girl (I'm the baby of the family) and we are 7 years apart but best friends none the less. She has constantly been there for me, encouraging me, supporting me. She has always been a role model to me. Before this tragedy happened, the way she lived always gave something to aspire to. After, I have been amazed at the way she has picked up herself as well as her five little ducks. Although grief surrounds their family, she has set a tone to honor Tim's memory and find their way in a new, unfamiliar (& sometimes very scary) world.
I feel so fortunate because Timmers and I were buddies pretty much from the get go. He was more my brother than my brother in law and I was honored to be his other little sister. I was also very blessed to live with the Watsons twice throughout the years. Once during apartment transition and once before I got married. I was able to experience their family dynamic and witness their wonderful marriage in person (the princess bride effect if you will). I was able to see who he truly was. A devoted and loving father and a kind, patient husband. And I was always impressed by it all. He also impacted my life. He constantly encouraged me to be my best self, put myself out there in the right places, be confident and love and enjoy life. I remember he pulled me aside one day when I was floundering and we had the best chat about life and what I wanted out of mine. I always had tremendous respect for him and will cherish our chats. After I got married and moved out, our fun continued with Sunday night shows and girls night. Timmers was forever my comedy buddy. We thoroughly enjoyed quoting Taladega Nights and spouting numerous "That's what she said" jokes. Sometimes we drove Shauna nuts (I think she let us believe that because it made it all the more fun), but we all always ended the night laughing till we hurt. The memory of him saying "I'm Tim and I like to party" will forever be ingrained in my memory, along with so many more inside jokes and heart felt moments. I miss so many things about Timmers but am so grateful for every single memory.
Jax was also blessed to be awesome buds with his Uncle Tim. He may have been borderline stalking him at some points. :) Tim was always super sweet with him. Even giving him the nickname, Jacqualynn the boy, haha (Jacq and Jax share a birthday, just 6 years a apart). It made my smile and was always said in fun and love. I'm so grateful for the kind of uncle he chose to be to my boy.
(My all time fav pics of these two. Lots of love there!)
After Tim's death, Shauna asked her kiddos who they wanted to give the life sketch at the funeral and they asked if I could. I can not tell you how honored I felt. I was grateful to share the life of a man I so respected and loved. I pray on some level, in some small way, I did his life some justice.
Here is a copy of life sketch I delivered at his funeral:
First, let me say what a beautiful day it is to honor Tim.
As I drove to the church this morning I couldn’t help but think the sun was
shining a little brighter. Hi my name is Alyssa Conley. I am Tim’s sister-in-law
by marriage but fortunate to have him be my brother by choice. When my nieces
and nephews, asked me to give their Dad’s life sketch my first thought was,
“I’m pretty sure Timmers knows my biggest fear in this world is public speaking
and he’s somehow behind this!!!” He was ever my encourager, cheering me on to
step outside my comfort zone and become the person he saw in me. I do feel
extremely humbled and honored to help share the life of one of my favorite
people. I pray I can do his story justice. I assure you I do not have his
uncanny ability to public speak, nor his level of articulation and finesse.
However, like Tim would always tell me, you got this, winners win. So today that’s
what I will try to do for him.
Timothy Chad Watson was born on November 25th,
1976 in San Jose, California to Janice Marie and Joseph Gayle Watson. He was
the third of four children. His eldest brother Jeff, followed by his brother
Darren and later his younger sister Deanna followed. Originally Tim was due in
December. However, his mom just knew he would arrive in November. To ensure
this, she might have run around the block a time or two. Tim was also expected
to be a girl, due to his strong and quick heart rate. Jan jokingly recalled
that she received both a nameless baby boy and turkey sandwich as he was born
on Thanksgiving day.
As a child, Tim was very different from his adult self. He
was described by his family as shy, sensitive and relatively quiet. While he was one of the youngest in his class
he always described as one of the most intelligent by his teachers. Tim also
participated and thrived in the Boy Scout program, eventually earning his Eagle
Scout. However their Timmy managed to get into a little mischief as well. Especially
with his cousins and siblings. Even though he was know for his going with the
flow attitude as a child, there might have been one call placed to the police
department reporting his brother Darren, after being thrown in the evergreens
outside. With a few pranks, screen door bounces, missed pool flips, bunny bite
scars, bridge jumps, go-cart banishments and scary driving in Spartacus under
his belt, he definitely showed another side to their quiet guy.
The start of his high school career was also the start of
his very active lifestyle. He involved himself in water polo, swimming and
wrestling. He was a dedicated athlete, sometimes having practice for all three
sports in one day. This dedication led to him lettering in all three sports,
which he was immensely proud of.
Tim began to come out of his shy shell after a family move
to Utah his senior year of high school. He attended Alta high where he met his
lifelong friends, Bodey and Nut and yes those are nicknames J. Let’s just say,
peanuts and noses were involved.
Throughout his high school and college years he remained
close to his family and adopted great friends as brothers. His willingness to
bring joy to others was immeasurable. If his sister needed a real Christmas
tree, he might have borrowed a planted one from public viewing. There is a
distinct possibility a blank tree spot remains in Orem to this day. His friends
would say, he was always willing to put himself on a limb for those he loved.
Sir Timothy Watson the third can vouch for that as he stuck out his neck to
help a buddy graduate high school. Someone had to sign the community service
forms. However Tim never did anything without great thought. He knew that his
friend, let’s call him Bodey J,
would have a great impact on the world around him. Tim’s faith in people was
amazing. He had an ability to see them for who they truly were and who they
could aspire to be.
Upon his graduation from High School, Tim’s parents never
had any doubt he would serve a mission. From a young age, he and his father discussed
his future service to the Lord. Tim approached the subject with excitement and
profound love for the gospel. He looked forward to the chance to focus his life
solely on bringing people to Christ and serving those around him. He was called
to serve in the Geneva Switzerland, French speaking mission. He entered the MTC
on December 6th, 1995. During
his time in the MTC, he asked his parents for pizza on a weekly basis. While
this is not surprising, it’s a little funny because his love for pizza never
wavered throughout the years. His fun loving, happy and contagious attitude
inspired the MTC to be a joy for others and created life long friendships and
brotherhoods. His mission, like many others, was not without trials. Especially,
while he served in northern France, where angry locals carrying bats chased
him. Although the work was challenging,
Tim always spoke very fondly of his time on the mission and was grateful for
his personal and spiritual growth.
Upon his return, he enrolled in the firefighting program at
UVSC and finished his certification less than a year later. Although
technically less qualified than some, our every charming Tim acquired a job at
the West Jordan Fire Department. Like his Dad said, I don’t think the kid ever
had a bad interview. While he enjoyed his work and aiding others, he found the
environment didn’t align with the life he wanted to live and the man he aspired
to be. He returned to school to complete his degree.
Now, I was blessed to be the first from Shauna’s family to
meet Tim in the summer of ‘98. They had met shortly before at a dance and spent
the next two weeks together. Their meeting at the dance has many different versions;
most filled with made-up facts by Tim to entertain their children. Shauna said
it was not love at first sight because Tim liked all the ladies and she dated
one boy at a time. Tim however found Shauna to be sweet, intriguing and
somewhat unattainable. It wasn’t until
their next interaction at Salt Lake dance club with mutual friends that things
began to click. Tim had decided to leave the club after feeling the environment
to be a little rough around the edges. Shauna left for similar reasons but
secretly wanted to run into Tim, which she did. He made sure of it. That night
he somehow located a jeep and they rode around town with the top down enjoying
Salt Lake. He was always able to make anything happen, especially an adventure
out of thin air. He found the best in any situation and brought an element of
magic to the boring or mundane. Shauna recalled being so attracted to the
bounce in his step and his happiness and passion for life. She knew there was
something special about this boy. Although Shauna returned home to Washington
for the rest of summer term and Tim remained in Utah, the two picked up right where
they left off upon her return in the fall and began their roller coaster of
courtship. Let me just say, bless Tim for his perseverance. Love you sisser J. Through all the ups
and downs and steps forward and back, he knew there was something about this “S
Girl”. Something special, something he
needed to have in his life for eternity. By the power of prayer and
confirmation from the Lord, he had been assured Shauna was his girl. Even
though she turned down multiple marriage proposals from him. On April 12th,
1999, Tim decided to go big for the proposal. He persuaded her to go out on a
date, even though she was reluctant that night. During the date, which involved
going to places all around Provo, he had 11 red roses delivered to her by
friends and strangers on their many stops. With their last stop being the Provo
Temple. He used one white rose to propose. She said no. Thankfully Tim’s
persistence and determination were unwavering as was his faith in both his
answer from the Lord and their future. He suggested they take a weekend road
trip down to St. George and she gladly agreed. The two of them were always up
for an adventure. Thank goodness because down the road the spacing of children
definitely presented a crazy one. In St. George he proposed again and she
finally said yes. He immediately got on the phone to his boys to tell them the
good news. Unfortunately, she got on a plane days later with her runaway bride
doubts. After much prayer on her end, she reached out to Tim with her confirmation
of their future. To ensure their engagement remained intact he hopped on a
plane to Washington and moved there for the summer.
When people asked Tim about marrying Shauna, he would say,
“We have to get married because the doctor says we are in love” and Shauna
would chime in, “Yeah in the temple”. A temple marriage was of the upmost
importance to the two of them. It set a strong precedence and expectation of
their life together. Once those two finally got on the same page, they never
left.
Tim and Shauna were sealed for time and all eternity in the
Portland Oregon temple on November 19, 1999, or as they like to call it 111999.
However, the wedding did not go off without a hitch. Tim’s fear of his runaway
bride almost became a reality. Okay not really. Shauna got lost on the way to
the temple and was 30 plus minutes late. The little old lady temple workers
kept telling Tim, “don’t worry we can find you a bride”. In all the chaos,
Shauna recalled just wanting to get to Tim. It was then she had her definitive
answer and they never again looked back.
After a quick stop over in Washington state, where my
teenage self harassed them relentlessly, their adventure began with a move to
Hawaii in the winter of 2000. There, Tim attended BYU Hawaii, while Shauna
worked. Well really Tim surfed….A LOT. He also used his “lucky rabbit foot”
ways and somehow attended a school trip for pearl research in Tahiti. He’s
pretty proud of that. After his graduation from BYU Hawaii in June 2001, their
family of two made the move to San Jose, California. He attended school for his
MBA in addition to working full time. He and Shauna were also temple workers at
the Oakland temple. Often serving multiple times in a week. Tim had such a deep
love for the temple and work done inside. In addition they welcomed their first
child, Maximus Joseph, born September 30th, 2002. When Shauna shared
the news of their pending arrival, Tim said, “I can’t believe it! Should I be
elated or scared!”. As we all know, Tim took so naturally to being a dad. He sincerely
found joy in every moment (well most moments). He radiated a true and amazing
tenderness to his parenting. He became a beckon, a home base to all his
children. They gravitated to him. Those who witnessed his parenting did so in
admiration. Shortly after Max’s birth, they received a surprise in the way of
their twins. During the first ultrasound Tim turned to the technician and said,
“Can you check again? I did not bring a two for one coupon in here with me”.
Barrett Mathias and Alexander Timothy were born on February 12, 2004. Making
Max and twins 16 months apart. After
Tim’s graduation from his master’s program in the spring of 2004, their family
of five, moved to Gig Harbor, Washington. During their short time in
Washington, Shauna felt inspired to have another baby. Tim told her she had one
month. During that month, Jacqualynn Grace came to be and was born on October
20th, 2005. Making their kid total four under the age of barely
three years. A few short months later in January of 2006, the family of six
moved to Orem, Utah. This move like the others was meant to be for a short time,
a few years at most. However, the family came to love this state and it became
their permanent home.
As they began to put roots down in Utah and their house
wasn’t filled from top to bottom with diapers, Tim’s passions for fitness and
health began to grow. He started to participate in mountain biking, marathons,
triathlons, Ironmans, weightlifting and cycling even completing the Seattle to
Portland ride. Occasionally he enjoyed going to a sports game or watching it on
TV, but really only if the Texas Longhorns or BYU playing. He had an amazing
ability to eat 10 meals on Sunday night and smile and laugh all the way through
every girl’s night and family party. All
of his mentioned hobbies and enjoyments always came second to the gospel and
his family. And speaking of family, the Lord wasn’t done giving their family
surprises. Lola Marie, their miracle baby, was born on October 16, 2009. When
Tim found out about their last surprise, he didn’t say anything; he drove to
the doctor and rode his bike home.
Tim and Shauna have constantly looked for traditions to keep
their family close, especially through the upcoming teenage years. As a family
they enjoy snow skiing, boating, hiking, bike riding, swimming, using Timmers
as a jungle gym, mom and dad dates and so much more. He was always willing to
go out of his comfort zone and learn something new if it meant time spent with
his family. I love a motto they have in their home, “Go be a real boy or girl”.
He wanted them to experience, grow and learn from doing not watching or
sitting. He, himself, was never one to sit idly by. Rather he was the one
getting people on their feet, ensuring all felt included and needed.
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