Happy 30th Birthday, Gabe!

Gabe is a classmate from my elementary school, North Christian. Here is an article on Gabe's life and the disease that he has lived with since 1992 that was written last week in preparation for his 30th birthday, which is tomorrow, February 1! Gabe was in several of my classes from K through 5th grade, and he was in my class in 5th grade, a very special year as it was his last year at school. I will never forget our last day of 5th grade, as we had a pool party at Gabe's house, and his mom came on the bus as we were leaving and asked us to "save a seat" for Gabe at our 8th grade graduation. As you can imagine, the bus ride home was an experience of tears and quietness. Well, Gabe DID graduate with us in 8th grade, despite the fact that doctors had given him a year or so to live after 5th grade...AND he graduated from high school with us! Gabe also was the best man at his brother, Ben's wedding, in which I was a bridesmaid in for my friend, Laurie. That was probably the last time I had seen Gabe about 5 years ago. Gabe's parents wanted to celebrate his 30 years of life and threw a party Sunday for him, inviting friends, family, and people that worked with Gabe over the years. It was a wonderful celebration, and so nice to see Gabe and several classmates again! Carrie, Kelli, Cricket, and me with Gabe
10 classmates of Gabe's
Kevin, Kelli, Carrie, Chris, Lucas, PJ, Cricket, Emily, Jud, and Seth

In remembering Gabe, I thought I'd try to dig up some special papers my mom had saved for me about Gabe. One thing I found was a card from Ronda, his mom, that had a picture of Gabe in it holding a fish he had just caught with a BIG smile on his face. Inside the card was a copy of a special poem too. Here is the poem that Lucas Vander Lugt wrote in 8th grade for Gabe:

Through the sorrow and the pain
Through sunshine and rain
We still remain
Through the laughter and the tears
Through all those happy and sad years
We still remain
Your name is gold
In our hearts we hold
You still remain
We love you Gabriel Engbers
And together we will still remain
For the class of '95 is our name
With happiness and sorrow, laughter and pain
WE STILL REMAIN

Here is a book our 5th grade class made for Gabe for his 12th birthday...it shows a lot of his personality and likes back then! :) The book is based on the mouse books, "If you give a mouse a cookie...":

If you give Gabe a hug...
he's going to want a kiss
(he was always asking girls for kisses :))
That will make him think about chewing a piece of Big Red gum.
After his gum loses its flavor, he's going to want a Jolly Rancher.
After eating a Jolly Rancher, he's going to be thirsty.
So, he'll ask for a Pepsi.
When he's drinking his Pepsi, he'll start singing the Pepsi song.
"You got the right one, baby! Uh-huh!"
When he's done singing he's going to want to listen to a tape.
So he'll put in his favorite tape of his friends from North singing.
When he hears his friends singing, he'll want to go see them at school.
At school, he'll see his girlfriends and he'll say "Hey, Babe!" :)
When recess comes, he'll want to go outside.
If he goes outside, he'll want a piggyback ride on Sethypoo's back.
(Seth is pictured above- one of Gabe's best friends and Gabe gave him the nice nickname :))
When he's on Seth's back, he'll ask to be spun around.
After he's been spun around, he'll be dizzy...
and he'll fall down.
When he falls down, he'll begin to cry
and he'll ask for his teddy bear.
And chances are, when he gets his teddy bear...
he'll probably want a hug to go with it!

We love you, Gabe!