Yesterday marked the 7th anniversary of Tyler's accident.   Seems weird to say "anniversary" in relation to a death, but that's what it is.  Seven years have passed and yet there are times when it feels like it was just yesterday,  As my daughter said yesterday "It feels like a minute and a lifetime have passed at the same time".
Depending on our perspective the same time period can seem very long or very short. 
It seems like forever since we last saw Tyler, seven years is a long time to go without seeing your loved one.  Yet I can still recount so much about that day even a good bit of that week.  Those memories are so clear that it often feels like it was just yesterday. 
That week was rough.  So much happened. BUT it wasn't all bad.  There were some good things that I remember about that week too. 
Just a few things that come to mind right now:
Adrianna (Tyler's daughter) had the idea to send messages on balloons to her dad in Heaven.  She was only 6 and she came up with the idea on her own.  She asked her mom to take her to get balloons and brought them to my house so we could write messages and release them together.  Her sweetness brought tears to my eyes.  When she saw that I was crying she got upset because she thought "she made me cry".  (Ok so I'm going off on a little tangent here: let the little ones in your life see you cry.  It's important that they know sometimes it's ok to cry, especially over the loss of a loved one). 
100's of people within our community, some who never met Tyler, came out for a Memorial Ride to honor Tyler and show their support for our family.  Some rode motorcycles, some drove cars.  The local police helped direct traffic.  Some people stood on the side of the road to take photos and videos then sent them to me to have as a keepsake.  When I look back at these keepsakes, I am overcome with thankfulness that so many people were touched by Tyler and his story that they gave up their Saturday morning to show their support. 
Our church "family"- so many reached out to help us with meals, funeral arrangements and expenses  and even cleaning the guest room for our son (Zach) and his family's arrival,  
My former work family.  Several of my coworkers came to visit, brought meals, sent cards and helped with desserts for after the funeral.   

Seven years later and I still remember the kindness and compassion that was shown to us after the accident.  Seven years later and many people continue to show us that same compassion.  Some have texted us to let us know they were thinking of us, and that they remember that June 7th was the day that changed our lives forever.  They reached out to us before any of us even posted anything about it.  
So if you remember only one thing from reading this blog.   
Remember this:
Don't be afraid to reach out to someone to let them know you remember their loss.  You won't be reminding them of their loss, they didn't forget. 
They will appreciate that you remembered them and their loved one.  Even Seven Years later.

     As January 2020 rolled around I started thinking of ideas to make our Share the Road event different or more special.  Something to highlight the 5 year "anniversary" of Tyler's death.  Then came the "Covid shutdowns" and with them came a lot of time to think over some ideas.   However the longer things were shut down, the harder it was for us to make plans.  In fact there was a time when we weren't even sure we would be able to hold our Share the Road event this year at all!  As the days on the calendar were ticked off, with very few events happening in an effort to maintain "social distancing", our hopes of holding an event were starting to dwindle.  However the idea of doing nothing was just depressing. 
    June 7, 2020 marked the "5th anniversary" of Tyler's death.  Not that it was something to celebrate, but I did feel like it was a good time for reflection.  So we decided that at the very least we would be able to hold a Memorial Ride this year.   The truth is, the very first Ride event was planned in just a few days, and we had a huge turnout.  It started out as a Memorial Ride to honor a fallen rider.  Drivers of cars, trucks and motorcycle riders were invited to demonstrate we could all Share the Road.  At that first event, friends, family and even perfect strangers came out to show support for Tyler's family.  Some money was raised to help his fiance` and children through the sale of decals and ribbons and donations.    
​     So this year's Share the Road Event may not have ALL the things I was hoping to do this year, but our message is still the same.  We are raising money to help others and through the Memorial Ride, we are hoping to demonstrate to others that we can ALL Share the Road Safely!
     I hope you will join us!

Ever since I was a teenager, I did volunteer work.   At the time I didn't really know I was "volunteering".  I just considered it "helping out".  I mostly spent volunteer time helping in the church nursery, or helping with VBS.   At Christmas I helped make cookies and sang carols to the elderly and shut-ins.      
Volunteering is something that I have continued to do even when I was busy working and raising our children.  Most of my volunteer work, consisted of helping in the children's classrooms or watching babies in the church nursery.   
Basically, I loved helping with children.   
I don't tell you this to toot my own horn, but I want to share with you that I was also helping myself!   
By giving a little bit of my time to others, I got to feel needed.  
I got extra hugs and snuggles from babies too.  
I also felt like a part of something bigger.  Like I was making a difference, even if it was just in a small way.    
By helping in the church nursery, it meant that the parents could sit through a whole church service without interruption, and know their child was safe.  
By helping in the classroom it meant the teacher could give a little more time to a child that needed a little extra attention.   
Recently though, Mark and I had an opportunity to volunteer in a different way.   One that I think Blessed me more than the people we were serving. 
Here's what we did...
We joined eight others from our church to go on a Mission trip to New Bern NC.   You may not have heard of New Bern, but this town made the news in Sept. 2018 when Hurricane Florence struck.   As with many hurricanes, there was a lot of damage.  Much of it was caused by flooding.  So our group of ten volunteers, connected with Baptists on Mission in New Bern NC to help with the rebuilds.   We spent one week sleeping at a local church, and doing work in damaged homes so the homeowners could move back in.    The work was something I have never done before!   I actually got to use some power tools!   I learned how to cut and hang drywall.  I also learned how to use a circular saw and to cut and lay Luan flooring.   I felt so accomplished when I would finish a wall, especially when it had some difficult cuts.   The others in my team were hard workers, and very willing to teach me these new skills.   I may not be a professional, but I feel like I learned enough to be able to help with this type of work again.  
After each work day we went back to the church that hosted us.   This is where the Baptists on Mission organization really Blessed us.   First they insisted that we were able to be the first ones to use the showers.   These showers had excellent water pressure, with hot water and they were kept really clean.   After showering the Baptists on Mission volunteers had our supper ready for us.   Home cooked meals with plenty for everyone!   We all ate at the same time and enjoyed the fellowship.   We learned a lot about each other and the Baptists on Mission organization.   After we all finished dinner someone would share a devotion with us.   A different person spoke each night and we were all Blessed by the topics that were shared.  
In the evenings after the devotions we had free time.  Most of us hung around the "cafeteria" area and chatted.  We formed closer friendships with our own team members and added new friends from the Baptists on Missions team.    
When our work week was finished we all felt a little sad.  We all said we definitely want to go back to help some more.   
You don't have to have amazing skills to help others.   You just need to have a willingness to serve.   There are so many opportunities in your own town to make a difference. 
Offer to Read in your child's classroom (or any classroom)
Clean up trash alongside the road
Visit Residents in local Nursing Homes
Volunteer in a local Hospital
Offer assistance with your favorite Non-Profits.
These are just a few ideas that I came up with, but the opportunities are endless!   

Why did I post this on the Tyler's Ride Blog?
We at Tyler's Ride are always looking for volunteers.   You can help with mailings, website design, taking photos at our events, hanging flyers around your workplace and local businesses.   When several people help with one task, the work gets done faster.  Plus the more volunteers we have, the less likely our volunteers will burn out.    In addition, when you share our posts on social media you are helping to keep our advertising costs down.   So please Like and Share our posts!  
Tyler's Ride is completely volunteer run.   This means more of the money raised can go to helping others!

      "Volunteers are not paid
--not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless"

Believe it or not, our team of volunteers started thinking about our 2018 ride during the 2017 ride.   We mentally took note of what went well, what we think could use improvement, and remembered what you (our participants) have told us.   
A few weeks after our last ride (2017), we had a board meeting and discussed plans for the 2018 Ride.   We felt that starting at Martin's Moto and ending at Maple Grove was well received.  We also decided that we really like the route itself.   We set the date with Maple Grove, mailed out sponsorship letters, booked an interview with Y102 and started advertising months ago.  Marissa (one of our busiest volunteers) has been helping me stay organized, not an easy task I assure you.   She also has made most of our flyers and advertisements.  
Several weeks ago, Mark, Miranda and I started driving the route to narrow down the timing in hopes to get more assistance at intersections from the police and fire police in the areas we will be traveling.  We also wanted to make sure there weren't any issues with the route such as loose gravel on the road or road construction...   Well we live in PA and as you know, summer brings road construction and lots of it.  Fortunately we only ran into one major issue.   The bridge on Gibraltar Rd is closed.   This meant we had to make some changes to our route.   No worries though, Mark touched base with Exeter Twp police and they helped us make adjustments to our route and barring any emergencies in the area, during our ride, they said they will assist us at several major intersections.    YAY!!!! for Exeter Twp police!!!!    We still have a few intersections that are not covered yet.  We want to keep everyone together along the route and in order to do that, we will need additional blockers.    You can still participate in the ride and block an intersection along the way.  Or if you are not able to participate in the ride but still wish to help, we can assign you a spot and give you a brief window of time that we would need you there.  Please call Mark at 484-300-2800 if you can help with blocking!
Today we drove our new route and calculated the time it takes to get to each intersection.   The entire route took us 52 minutes and it is a really nice drive.  We will be going over a covered bridge again, so drivers of trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds or taller than 10 feet will need to separate from our group temporarily.   Please contact us so we can give you the details.   

As of tonight we are 7 days from the ride... basically it's crunch time.   We will be putting gift bags and registration packets together, picking up supplies and working hard in hopes of making this ride even better than the last.  In the midst of this we will be holding our first ever Raffle Preview.  This is an opportunity for you to view all the raffle prizes that have been generously donated to us.  You can pre-purchase your raffle tickets for your chance to win some great prizes like Philadelphia Phillies tickets or a signed Eagles photo, and Martin's Moto donated a pair of Riding Gloves too.  We have over 20 Raffle Prizes to give away.  So stop by 311 County Line Rd Gilbertsville (Dierolf Plumbing and Water Treatment) between 9am-7pm on Monday July 9 or Tuesday July 10th to see all the great prizes!   You can also register for the ride if you haven't already done so.   
In fact you will be helping us a lot if you pre-order your tickets.   We want to make sure we have enough of the registration packets ready for everyone!    Also the first 60 ticket holders  will receive a free Cinch bag in addition to the other gifts for participating.  
We can't wait to see you at our 4th "Share the Road" Event!    

  I can't believe it's been almost 2 years since I've last written anything in this blog.   The truth is, until we started Tyler's Ride I have never written a blog before.  I have tried writing a few times but found myself at a loss as to what to write, and how much to share.  I don't want the blog to always be sad, however the only reason we have a blog and this website is because of a very sad and tragic event in our lives.  What I am trying to write today is just a reminder that even though thinking about Tyler's death will always bring a sadness.  Life is still moving on.  There is nothing we can do to stop it.  So we are trying to do our best to LIVE it.

  Tyler left behind two wonderful children.  They are now 9 and 5.  They are really growing up fast, and they both resemble Tyler in their own way.  Spending time with them brings us a lot of joy.  We are making new memories with them and trying to help them remember things about their dad.  Sometimes that includes showing them pictures from when they where younger so they can see how much Tyler enjoyed being their dad.   

  When I think about the fact that Jayce and Adri were so young when they lost their father, it makes my heart hurt for them.   They had no choice in this.  They will always feel different when they participate in "Father Daughter" or "Father Son" functions.  Don't get me wrong, Adri and Jayce are loved by many extended family members who have stepped in so they could participate in these functions.  It's just something that makes them feel different.  So far they seem to be handling this well, I just wish they didn't have to "handle it" at all.   This is just one of the areas of life where there is sadness amidst the joy of life moving on.    

  Mark and I (Tyler's parents) have been trying to take more time to just "be in the moment".  We have recently taken two long weekends away at the beach (my happy place).  For those of you who don't know Mark well, this is huge...  He is a hard worker rarely putting in fewer than 70 hours a week.  So getting him away isn't always easy and when he is away, he is still doing work.  Anyway, we both needed to take some time to re-focus and recharge.  Sometimes working too much makes you less productive than if you work just 40-50 hours a week (on the same project).  Since I work for Mark, we often find our conversations at home end up involving work.  We are working to change that.  Mark is now coaching Jayce's t-ball team.  I have been able to help at a practice and  watch one game so far, hopefully I will get to see more.  It is so fun to watch young kids playing a sport.  This is a fun reminder of when Tyler played t-ball.   Different kids, but still their antics are the same.   One kid is playing in the dirt, another has to go potty.  One kid is batting the ball and the rest of the players all run to be the first to field it.  If you are having a bad day, or just need a laugh, watch young kids play a sport.   This may just help you to relax, laugh, and be in the moment.  

  This coming June it will be 3 years since Tyler's accident.  There has been a lot of Life happening since then.   Tyler's Ride will be holding our next Share the Road event on Saturday July 14 2018.  We are growing a little more each year.  I am so touched by the show of support we are receiving.   Those of you who like and share our posts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are all helping to spread the word about our organization, and events.  Thank you for that!!!  As a non-profit we are trying to keep our costs down so we can use the donated funds to help others that have been affected by tragedy similar to ours.  So every 'like' and 'share' is helping to bring attention to Tyler's Ride without us having to pay for more advertising.
 Thank you, again !

Today June 7, 2016 marks the one year anniversary of Tyler's death.  One year is a long time to go without seeing or speaking to your son.  One year is a long time when you are looking forward to something like a vacation.  One year seems like a long time for a lot of things in life.  Yet one year seems to fly by when we are talking about a child's first year.  Tyler was 25 years old when he died.  Twenty-five years to raise a son, watch him become a father and find his way as an adult .  Twenty-five years was not nearly enough for me.  Those 25 years went by so fast!  Tyler was our first-born and I remember a lot about my pregnancy, and his birth.  I remember many details of his early years too.  Times when he made us laugh, times when he made us worry, and times when he made us cry,  let's face it, those teen years are not always easy for some parents.  Those can be  some of the longest years of parent's life.
Tyler touched a lot of lives in his 25 years.  He had a lot friends.  Many of them still write notes on his Facebook wall.  Some of them even touch base with us from time to time just to see how we are doing.  
So today one year later and I can't help but think it's been too long since Mark and I last spoke with our oldest son.    It's been too long since his children had a chance to play with their dad.  One year is a long time for Tyler's siblings to go without recalling those "family stories" and joke around with each other.
I am grateful for the 25 years I had with Tyler, but those 25 years just don't seem long enough.  They flew by!

"On June 7, 2015 our family was deeply affected by a tragedy.  Our son, Tyler was killed in a motorcycle accident and his fiance' was injured.  Tyler left behind two young children (ages 6 and 2 the day of the accident), his fiance' Kristen, both parents, a younger brother and a younger sister.  Our lives will never be quite the same, but we will always remember Tyler and the influence he had on us.

My husband and I were notified while attending Sunday Services at our church.  We were immediately surrounded by some dear friends and later one couple selflessly drove us home.  While we were still at the church my husband had to make the call to our other son who lives out of state.  Thankfully he and his wife were with friends when they received the call.  The news started to spread quickly, several family members had called us as we were heading to tell our daughter who was at work.  Once we arrived home our friends stayed with us and others came later with food.  Several of Tyler's friends even came by to see us.  Some of our family stopped in and thankfully helped to make phone calls to notify extended family.  This is not an easy phone call to make, and every time I tried to call someone it brought a fresh wave of tears.  I am very grateful I had someone else to make those calls.  

​Our son was a man with many friends.  He really treated no one like a stranger.  He was the type of person who would do his best to help others when needed.  He often asked us how he could help someone when he wasn't sure what to do.  

Just two days after his death some friends of Tyler's asked about having a ride in Tyler's memory.  I suggested that everyone be invited instead of just having people with motorcycles participate.  I wanted to show the community that cars and motorcycles CAN Share the Road safely.  So in just FOUR days, our first ride was put together.  A Facebook page was created and people spread the word.  A local TV station did an interview with our son to promote the ride.  

The day of the first ride, we were shocked by the amount of people that came to show support.  Someone made and sold decals to raise funds for Tyler's family, a local business donated gift cards to raffle off.  There were hundreds of bikers that participated in the ride along with so many cars and trucks we weren't able to get an accurate count!  There were people who we knew, but so many that we were just meeting for the first time.  Some from the community came that didn't even know Tyler (or our family).  They just heard about the ride and wanted to show support.  

Our family was truly blessed by the outpouring of love and support from our community.  The ride made such a huge impact on us we just knew we had to find a way to keep it going.   
This is why we formed a non-profit called   "Tyler's Ride"
and now with your help, we can continue to hold rides, and raise funds.  Those funds will be used to help other families in a time of tragedy.