It took me 3 months to put this site together. It was my first attempt at building a website.There were 5 young people in the car that evening. Jason's girlfriend was sitting between Jesse and Jason in the back seat. When the shots started, Jason pushed Tyffanie down and covered her. It was a Godsend that no one else was hurt.Their killer, Dennis Cramm, who was 17 at the time, is serving a 60 year sentence.

I signed Jesse's GB that night (since I think it's the polite thing to do!) and told Donna how beautiful it was and that I had read every word and been so touched and yada, yada, yada. She wrote me back a nice note and then shortly after that she visited my website and sent me a beautiful Memorial graphic to put on my little Angel Grandson Cole's page. That started it - from that point on we just 'connected' and ended up sending e-mails back and forth through-out our days on the computer.

I was so moved by what Jean had said in the GB entry. She said that she had spent several hours reading my pages and really felt what I had written. It was beautiful! When I visited her site and read about her grandson Cole, who was born into Heaven, I just knew that I had to send her one of Jesse's memorial plaques. You know, from one angel to another. Her site is just wonderful.

The more we wrote, the more we realized that we were so much alike in so many ways. We had a great deal in common and really found ourselves enjoying our time together on the computer. I'm sure you have all had someone like that if you have been on the internet for very long.

We wrote gazillions of emails to each other throughout the days. Some of the things we have in common are these: She goes by her middle name Jean, and that is my middle name, too! We both lost Uncles in WWll, she is the same age as my husband and I am the same age as her husband. We like a lot of the same weird foods.These are just some of the things we share in common. Believe me, there are a lot more.

Soon we had our nicknames for each other - she's Gator & I'm Puff. Don't ask me - it's a long story! LOL We also joined the online group Heavens Angels and soon found ourselves knee deep in making special occasion pages for the other Angels in our group (birthdays, anniversaries etc). We had so much fun and always have the other one to 'proofread' the pages. Then we joined Smile Quilts to make virtual quilts online for ill children and that is something that we enjoy sharing together so much.

Well, if she won't tell the story, I will. When she would end an email, she would sign, "Later gator" and I just started signing my name as Gator. At the same time, she ended up with an infection in one of her eyes, and she said the whole side of her face was puffed up. One email, she signed Puffed In Tucson. So, I started calling her Puff. Thus the names Puff and Gator. Our husbands have nicknames, too. Puff's husband is Bunky and my husband is Foop. They had these names before we even met. So, we have all 4 of us. Puff & Bunky and Gator & Foop.

One day Puff said she is going to go out and find groups for us to join. The first one was Heavens Angels. We both joined the Party Cloud and we had a blast! Then we joined Smile Quilts. Jesse has a memorial quilt on there that was done last year. That is how I knew of them, and then Puff had a smile quilt done for her other grandson Jake. We love making the quilts. It is so great to be able to make these kids smile. We make special birthday and graduation pages for them, too.

As the second anniversary of Jesse's death was nearing, I decided it would be wonderful to be able to go to Seattle and be there to help them through that painful time. I wrote to Gator and asked her if that would be okay and she said "Come on up". It was pretty much a last minute thing, as I searched high and low for reasonable airline tickets for Chris & me. Finally, I found them, bought the tickets and wrote Gator with the schedule. She insisted that we come and stay with her and Ken (pretty brave of them considering we had never met face to face!). I guess they knew we would be 'safe' since Chris is a police officer and my whole career has been in law enforcement prior to my medical retirement. Mind you, I didn't say we were 'normal' - I just said we were 'safe' houseguests!

I was totally blown away when Puff said she wanted to come up! I just couldn't believe it! Of course we said yes! We counted down the days until they would be here. We were all so excited!

We flew up to Seattle on Saturday May 25th and spent 8 wonderful days and nights with Gator & Ken. It was truly as if we had known each other forever! Our husbands got along just great (and had a great deal in common too) and we were just like 4 old, old friends getting together 'again'. Gator is quite a cook and my husband is too (yes, I'm NOT domestic - get over it)...so together they whipped up meals for us all. Sunday night Chris was the 'chef' and made Chinese food from scratch (chow mein, won-tons etc) and we all enjoyed that. Although I'm not a cook, I LOVE cleaning the kitchen so most nights I was able to do duty after dinner; despite protests from Gator that she didn't think guests should do dishes. I told her if she came to my house, I would expect her to cook so we came to an understanding! :)

It was so wonderful when they arrived. Puff and I just hugged and hugged. Our husbands did get along great. They both love the History Channel!!! We all shared stories about everything. Bunky's cop stories were great! Especially one about a bud vase. Whenever I see one, I think of him. LOL Yes, Bunky and I did the cooking. He is a marvelous cook. I found it hard to believe that a man was actually cooking in my kitchen. Ken can saute mushrooms and use the microwave! He's like Puff, not very domestic. I can live with cooking, as long as someone else is willing to clean up. hee hee

Coming from Tucson and the 100 degree weather we were having, it was so nice to be in cool Seattle. We would have liked for it to have rained a bit more than it did but since we always bring sunshine and heat to places that we visit, we weren't surprised when 3 days into our visit, the clouds parted in Seattle, the sun came out and it stayed that way until we left 5 days later! LOL I did resort to doing a rain dance one afternoon in front of their house - it worked; a little later, Gator & I were able to go out for a long walk in a slow drizzling rain and I was able to take pictures in the neighborhood of all the freshly blooming rhododendrons and other beautiful flowers that grow up there. Chris and I each got a ride on the back of their Harley; I had to be persuaded because I'm generally a chicken, but it was exhilarating! We all 4 went sightseeing to Snoqualamie Falls just east of Seattle and enjoyed the beauty there. The gift store was fun too! LOL (I am a gift store junkie)

She did get out there on the street and do a rain dance! I had a picture of her doing this, but lost it on my computer. Within half an hour, it started to rain! So here we are, me in tennis shoes and a coat and her in shirtsleeves and sandals, walking through the neighborhood in the rain so she could enjoy the rain and take pictures. I'm sure the neighbors didn't mind her going into their yards to photograph their flowers! The Harley rides for them were great! She just loved it. She is resigned to getting a Harley now, so she, and her friend Pam and I can all be biker mommas. LOL While we were at the Falls, she took tons of flower pictures again. Flowers are her real passion! She has even had some of her photographs use in websets!While we were at the gift shop at the falls, I fell in love with one of the huge wind chimes there. I have always wanted one of them. When we got home, Bunky produced the one I had been looking at to us. He had purchased it and got it into the car while we were still looking around the shop. What a surprise. Puff had also gotten me a little fairy and Foop a beautiful Virgin Mary plate at my friend Kim's shop. She does love the little shops!

On the evening of May 30th, we were able to be at a memorial gathering that included many of Gator & Ken's closest friends and even more of Jesse & Jason's friends. After that, we all drove out to the cemetery where Jason was laid to rest and spent some time out there paying our respects. Afterwards, many of the boys' friends and Gator's friends came back to the house and we had quite an evening. I should mention that May 30th is also my husband Chris' birthday and despite what kind of a day it was for them, Gator had baked him a birthday cake while he and I were gone earlier in the day. Chris was floored when Gator brought the cake out to him in the living room and everyone that was there sang Happy Birthday to him! It was not a sad gathering; in fact, just the opposite - the boys regaled us with stories (and we several for them) and later, in the dining room with all of Gator's girl friends, we ate cake and shared some great times.

It was such a blessing to have Angel Grammy here on this very special day. There have been times since we met online, that I would tell her I was having a bad day. To have her here on one of them was priceless. It took her a long time to tell me when Chris' birthday was. She didn't want me to know it was the same date that Jesse was killed. I told her not to worry about it. Both events are a celebration. Chris' birth date and Jesse's Heaven birth date. Jesse is at home with us. He is sitting in our living room surrounded by his pictures. Having his close friends come by late was wonderful. We did have quite a time and it made the day so much more special. Yes, there were sad times but mostly happy ones. One very special moment came when we were up at the memorial gathering at the Cost Cutter parking lot. That is where the car carrying my sons body ended up. Jesse's ex-girlfriend Dallas, came up to us to show us what she had done at midnight the night before. She had gotten her first tattoo. It is a heart with Jesse's initials in it. It is beautiful. They were so much in love and were just getting back together.

Jesse's friends stay in touch and come over often to Ken & Gator's home. I knew this because she often told me in e-mail about their visits. When we were there and able to see the interaction, it was both wonderful and sad. It was wonderful because having the boys there brings such a gleam to Ken & Gator's eyes. They love catching up with the boys and their lives. I also knew, although it wasn't 'said', that it must also bring a certain sadness because as the boys talk of their birthdays and futures, it can't help but remind you that Jesse & Jason would have turned 21 this year too; Jesse's 19th birthday was just 6 days after he was murdered. I know that it must make it all the more real that Jesse is gone from this lifetime when they share in the lives of his friends. However, that said, I also know that having the boys there is worth every moment of it to them.

"Our Boys" as we call them, are the best. They keep us linked to Jesse. Knowing what goes on in their lives really matters to us. We do wonder if Jesse would be doing some of the things they are doing, and it does bring a bit of sadness. But it wonderful to know that they are all healing from this tragedy. They know that they can come to us anytime and just talk. And believe me, they do. God bless them all! On Jesse's 21st birthday, which was June 5, Ken and I went to the local Pub and toasted him at 1:09. His birth time. How we would have loved to have him there with us.

Chris and I stayed in Jesse's room while we were there. Gator had asked me at one point if it would make us uncomfortable doing that (if so, they were going to give up their bedroom to us) and I had told her that we would be honored to stay in Jesse's room. His room is filled with a wall collage of pictures of Jesse from the time he was an infant right through the last pictures ever taken of him. There is also a  RIP banner that all of the kids signed for Jesse & Jason after they were killed. Looking at the pictures and reading the notes made Jesse even more real to Chris & I. His entire 'essence' was in that room and it was wonderful. We were able to watch a video with Jesse in it at one point during our stay and it was such a neat feeling to see him 'in life' and hear his voice and laugh at his antics!

Chris and Jean were just great about watching the video of Jesse playing football and acting up. They also watched the video of the news stories that were done on his murder. What she didn't tell you, was she and Chris sat one morning and read all three albums I have filled with news stories and pictures from the newspapers. They read every one of them. They didn't mind at all talking about Jesse. We find that there are few people who are willing to do that. Jesse's murder rewrote our address book. My family even has trouble talking about it.

Before Jesse died, he had brought home a 'puppy'; he adored Swisher and she adored him. She still likes to sleep in his room at night. Swisher has grown up into a BIG girl and she has become Gator's best friend and companion around the house. We fell in love with her too and she REALLY liked Chris so, of course, one of the last places we went before leaving for home was to the pet store and Chris loaded her up with new toys (I picked out a lovely pacifier for her) and treats! We miss Swisher as much as we miss Gator & Ken now that we are home! That dog can even spell - I swear you can say 'wonder if she needs to go P O T T Y' and if she does, she races for the back door! I shouldn't really even call her a dog; she's much more than that! Love ya Swisher!

Boy, did they ever spoil Swisher! Well, she was spoiled before but they sure did add to it. Every morning we would come out to see Chris and Swisher cuddled up on the couch watching TV. She never lacked for attention. I couldn't believe it when they came back from the pet store with a full sack of goodies for her. She loved all of them, too! Swisher loves you, too

Well, all good things must come to an end and our trip did too. Saying goodbye was really hard. We posed for some last pictures & Gator & I hugged and didn't want to let go. The good news is that Chris & I go to Seattle quite often since it has been in the plans for a long time that we will retire there in the next 5 or 6 years. We also have two other sets of friends up there that we managed to spend some time with on this trip too. Just knowing that when we do move, that we will have Gator & Ken there, too, makes us even more anxious. I'm sure not all 'meetings' of 'internet' friends go as well, but I'm here to tell you that technology is a wonderful thing; it has brought two people (and a dog) into our lives and we will grow old together as dear friends.

Towards the end of their stay here, they were arguing about which one had to go home and which one could stay. Of course, they both had to go, but none of us wanted it to end. Puff is quite a bit taller than me. I am 5' 2" and she is 5' 9". I had to stand on a stack of 3 phone books just so we would be close to the same height for the pictures of her and I together. We can hardly wait till they move up here! It is like we were old friends. I have never met such a wonderful couple off the internet before. We will cherish their friendship forever.

Love ya, Puff and Bunky

~Hugs~ Grammy aka Jean aka Angel Grammy aka Angel Jean aka Dufus (fingerprints available upon request)

~Hug 2U~ Gator aka Angel Gator aka Donna aka Dork (only if Bunky does the fingerprinting)