Remembering Chris

This page is dedicated to the memory of Christopher Lee Groves. Any special memories you would like to share would be greatly appreciated, and posted on this page.

Share the good and the bad. I'm sure that Mom remembers Chris's motorcycle accident clearer than anyone else. We all have good and bad memories, I know. I think that it is human nature to only show the good when sharing about someone we love who isn't here anymore. Not only that, but we are a family that is generally closer than most families, so we have high opinions of each other in the first place.

August was Chris's birth month, so I, like you all I'm sure, tend to dwell on him in August. It's easy for me to cry when looking at his pictures, or thinking about him. That's why I thought a "Memory" page would be a good thing... sometimes I can't speak what I'm thinking because I know the words won't get past the tears. If any of you feel the same way, please please submit a memory.

Odd Memory

My sinuses are bothering me tonite... which makes me remember that Chris used to wriggle his nose when his bothered him. He also used to pop his ears by opening his mouth and moving his jaw. Okay, a lot of people do those things... I know I do (I learned BOTH from him). HowEVER... he seemed to do them constantly!

Christmas Party Pranks

Remember when we used to gather together on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day to have our family parties? I loved it when we would play 20 questions or charades! One particular memory that comes to me right now is actually about Dad during a game of charades. It was his turn to act something out, and as we all sat in a circle, Dad got this stricken look on his face, grabbed his chest and fell to the floor. Dad lay very still on the floor with his eyes closed, and the rest of you sat in your chairs contemplating the situation, while I, being only 6-8, was FREAKING out because I thought my father had just dropped dead. And then, everyone started yelling out things like "Stroke Victim!", "Heart Attack!"... until dad got up and pointed to whomever had guessed correctly.

Thanks a lot Dad.

The REAL memory I wanted to type before that one so rudely interrupted me was of Chris and Lane. Lane had brought a cup of water from the kitchen along with the broom. He pulled a chair into the center of the dining room and climbed up, taking the cup of water and holding it up to the ceiling. As I'm sure you all remember, the ceilings were around 10 feet high. He then asked Chris if he would help him by handing him the broom. Chris handed Lane the broom, Lane proceeded to brace the tip of the broom handle against the bottom of the cup to hold it securely against the ceiling. He then asked Chris if he would carefully hold the broom so that he could get off of the chair without the cup of water falling. Once he was down from the chair, Lane pulled the chair out of Christopher's reach and told him to get the water down from the ceiling. I'll never forget the look Chris had on his face when he realized that the only way out of this prank was to remove the broom from the cup and allow it to fall to the floor, spilling water all over himself!

Memories of Chris from Mom

Submitted October 16, 2004

When he was in highschool Chris was in a play. I can't remember the name of the play but Chris played the good guy. (He was dressed in white with a white cowboy hat). They had a scene where the good guy and the bad guy were playing poker. One of them had a good hand, bet on it and the other raised him. They both got so determined to beat the other that they forgot about saying their lines and sat there raising each other until one of them finally gave in and quit. Chris had this mischievous look on his face and it was pretty obvious they were both getting carried away having a good time trying to outdo each other. Chris always got a certain look on his face when he thought he was going to get away with something.

I do remember the motorcycle accident alright. Chris was in a room where we could only see him every 15 minutes and then only for 5 minutes. I would go in and stand by his bed while he was still out. When he finally woke up (about the 5th time I had been in standing by him) and looked at me and said "Where have you been, Mom?" I said "Standing right by your bed, Chris." A few years later he came home on a bus from California to Oregon. He called me from the bus depot and told me he had met a girl on the bus and he was too embarrassed to take his contact lenses out. He had left them in his eyes all night long and when he got off the bus and took them out he couldn't see. He wanted me to come pick him up at the bus station. When I got there it had taken me longer than he thought it should have. The first thing he said to me was "Where have you been, Mom?" I was just happy I didn't have to tell him "Standing by your bed." After his eyes recovered from having his contacts in too long he could see as good as he ever could - which wasn't very good. He was very near sighted. But he nearly always had that grin on his face.

Picture Thief	Chris	At Christmas	Christopher and Jeremy
Baseball Pose	Mom and Chris