Last night, Team Parnell had the pleasure of spending the better part of a day and the night with a boy who means the world to us. Braden. His dad, Cam was Brent's first cousin. 10 years ago this year, Cam died suddenly. The short version is that he was working WAY too hard and having WAY too much fun and the combination of the two worlds colliding stopped his heart at 29 years old.
Cam was very charming. He had a smile that lit up a room. His laughter was contagious and he was completely handsome. When he was little he had been bite by a dog and had a tanned scar that crossed his cheek bone. The first time I met him, he stole my heart. I was 16. Brent and I had been dating for two years. I was out camping at Grand Beach with some girlfriends when Cam arrived in 'town' from Calgary.
That weekend, I spent a lot of time getting to know this cousin who walked on water according to my Brent. We stayed up all weekend, a large group of us, laughing, partying and getting to know one another around a campfire.
As the years unfolded, Cam grew to be an even bigger part of our lives. Every chance we had to spend time with him, we happily freed our schedules. One summer, Brent even moved out to Calgary to work for Cam, who managed a work crew in the oil fields. Being the kind soul that Cam was, he insisted his little cousin live with him. Cam gave his little cousin everything he could want. He chauffeured him around to all of the best bars. He introduced him to all of his friends and he paid many tabs when they were out together.
Sometime between that summer and the time that Cam and his fiancee Lisa (Braden's momma) moved to Louisiana, Cam began living larger than he life would allow. I can vividly recall the day that I was paged to take a call in the staffroom at school. On the other end of the line was my MIL. She calmly explained to me that Cam had died. She asked if I would call Brent.
Cam's death was a very tough time in our relationship. I sobbed incessantly and my Brent internalized his pain. Brent did a eulogy at Cam's funeral. He flew out to Calgary with his mom. And although I never went with him, I edited and pieced together his words. One line that will live in my soul forever was this..
"Many people spend their lives searching for their hero. Today, I lost mine."
Spending last night with Braden, we also had Cam in our home. I felt him all around us. Braden is Cam's son through and through. He looks so much like him. Naturally, we threw every rule out the window and let this 12 year old boy call the shots. He was only 2 when Cam died.
The greatest irony in this story is that Braden has become my Hud's Cam. My little man completely idolizes Braden. That is magical and a GREAT reminder to live for today.
I just opened my eyes and you have me crying, how very moving and cool for Hud! You are such an amazing writer!!
Posted by: Crys | December 30, 2009 at 08:22 AM
What a beautiful post!
Posted by: Kathryn | December 30, 2009 at 09:55 AM
Such a great story :)
Posted by: Ashley | December 30, 2009 at 11:26 AM
Can't believe Brayden is 12 already, he's a cutie pie & it's so wonderful that he is Hud's idol now. It's certainly a full circle moment. Great post Brandi.
Posted by: Judy Hollingsworth | December 30, 2009 at 09:23 PM
There is definately spunk in those boys!
Posted by: [email protected] | December 31, 2009 at 05:58 PM