Jamie Pierre — Adventurer

A darkness came over the extended family last night with the news that Jamie Pierre—father, husband, son, brother, nephew, cousin, friend—was killed in an avalanche in Utah (Sunday, Nov. 13).

We older people tend to freeze the children of our relatives and friends at certain ages, especially if we see them only rarely. The dominant picture I have of Jamie fixed in my head is as a mop-headed little boy with limitless energy and appetite for adventure. Later snapshots are an extension of that early picture.

I am reminded of words from the great Russian writer, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, from his personal history of the Stalinist concentration camps. It comes often to mind when my children or I walk out the door: “prize above all else in the world those who love you and wish you well. Do not hurt them or scold them, and never part from any of them in anger; after all, you simply do not know: it might be the last act before your arrest, and that will be how you are imprinted on their memory.”

Loss and pain and grieving are in all our hearts. May God add other feelings as well as the days go by.

We love you Jamie.