Taylor Rockie Dodds

On Wednesday June 13th I got one of those types of calls at work that you know you'll never forget.  It's like how everyone can picture the exact moment that they learned about 9/11.  The mental images of myself at my desk at 1:41 pm on June 13th when I received a text from my Dad asking me to call him and then when I called him back from the hallway at 1:50 pm are forever seared in my mind.

He told me that my cousin Taylor had been in a wreck that morning and that he'd passed away.  At the time we knew very little.  As facts emerged we learned that around 6:15 am or so he was on his way to work and for some unknown reason he crossed the center stripe on a 2 lane highway.  He was hit by an 18 wheeler and passed away immediately.

I have suffered losses since starting this blog and I typically don't share them publicly.  I don't like attention and I tend to be able to process things better when I can do so on my own time.  The reason I am sharing this particular loss publicly is 2 fold.  First, I hope that it will serve as a poignant reminder to anyone who reads this blog to hug their loved ones and tell them how much they mean to them- you never know when it will be the last time you are given the opportunity to do so.  Second, Taylor was only 23.  The other losses I've suffered in life have been grandparents.  While no loss is easy, I've found comfort in those losses knowing that they lived full lives and likely got to achieve or experience most of what they hoped to - having children, seeing their children get married, experiencing grandchildren, etc.  Taylor was just starting his adult life in this world.  That's an awfully difficult pill to swallow.  I never pictured a scenario where my future children wouldn't meet my dear cousin Taylor.  I want them to know what an amazing person he was.  Hopefully this blog, as well as any future stories I tell them, will serve as a reference point.

Anyone who knows us well knows that my family made an annual road trip in the summer to South Bend to visit my Mom's side of the family.  She has 2 twin sisters, Jan & Jean, each of whom have 2 children, Kara & Travis and Ashleigh & Taylor, respectively.  Those road trips were absolutely the highlight of our year for Matt, Julie & I.  Over the years, despite a nearly 20 hour drive between us, the 7 of us became very close thanks to getting to see eachother for a week or two each summer.  Particularly as adults and since the passing of our Grandmother 5 years ago, we've become even closer.  This past year only strengthened that bond as we had the good fortune of seeing eachother 3 times between Ryan & I's wedding last July, Ashleigh & Kyle's wedding in October and most recently Travis & Miranda's wedding in May.  As our family has grown and evolved through marriage and babies, we've only enjoyed eachother's company more.  I have always pictured taking my own future children up to South Bend to get to know my cousins and their children so they could experience the same joy that I always did.  I never ever ever envisioned a scenario where any of the 7 of us would be missing.

It's so difficult to summarize a person in just a few short paragraphs, but I am going to do my best to at least paint a small piece of the portrait that was Taylor.  He was the youngest of the 7 of us and he was endlessly entertaining.  As a kiddo he always envisioned himself as quite the ladies man.  During a trip to Tower Hill in Michigan one summer we couldn't find hit.  After scanning the beach for about 5 minutes we found him about 5 blankets down chatting up some teenagers.  Typical for our little blonde haired blue eyed heartbreaker.  He could not have been more than 6.  Taylor loved baseball and played it his whole life.  He was one of the most competitive people I know.  He wanted to win so badly when he was younger that he would sometimes "bend" the rules.  And by that I mean cheat.  It was a well documented joke in the family that you needed to keep your eye on the number of cards in his hand or how many he had in the discard pile, depending on what we were playing.  

Taylor had the best smile and laugh ever.  His smile was a unique brand of mischievousness and genuine warmth that was outrageously contagious.  His laugh was a typical Brady one- pretty high pitched and made you laugh whether you wanted to or not.  He was also a sports fanatic and I remember a phase he went through where he was a huge OU football fan.  You can imagine how much fun that was for my Longhorn sister and I.  Good-natured heckling was free-flowing.  He may still have been as of late but perhaps their record made him keep his mouth shut... or more than likely he'd moved on to teasing about other things. 

Tay was a family-oriented guy.  Over the years some of us would inevitably miss family gatherings due to whatever we had going on at the time- it was never Taylor.  In more recent years he absolutely adored time spent with his baby cousins - Shiloh, Ava & Tripp (who range from 2 - coming up on 6).  It makes the news that he was months away from being an uncle himself even more shattering.  I will never forget the width of the beam on his face when he showed me a text at Miranda & Trav's rehearsal dinner in May from his sister giving him permission to tell "the Texas family" that he was going to have a niece or nephew in January.

All around, he was just the piece of our family's puzzle that helped make it complete.  Without him, something will always be missing.

These short paragraphs don't even scratch the surface of my dear cousin.  I know that not everyone who reads this blog comments.  However I hope that for just this one post that those who feel up to it- whether I know you or you just searched his name on the internet- that you leave a comment with a happy memory.  I know he will always be here in spirit for those of us who were blessed enough to know him, but I want the same for future Brady family descendants.  I would be incredibly grateful.

Taylor, we all love and miss you to depths that can't be expressed in words.  I hope that you and Grandma are playing Skip-bo on the daily (but don't you dare cheat with her) and that you keep some Mountain Dew handy for when I see you next.  Hugs and kisses forever sweet Tay Tay.

This was one of the earliest pictures I could find- Jimmy James and Taylor ice skating.

 Heartbreaker.  Tell me you wouldn't let this kid on your blanket.

 Trip to the Chicago Zoo.  Clockwise starting with the hunk in the neon orange- Travis, Matt, Julie, Ashleigh, Kara, Me & Tay.

 Same trip to the Zoo, same awesome attire.  Apparently as a child I enjoyed taunting my younger cousin?

 Handsomest of little men.

 Matt, Taylor & Trav playing pick up sticks at Grandma & Grandpa's with Uncle Tom.  That was always a grandchildren favorite.

Ashleigh & Taylor - siblings who make stripes look good.

  Ashleigh, Julie & Taylor playing some tunes.  Or mashing some keys.  That's probably in the eye of the beholder.

 

Grandma, Ash & Taylor with Jack Frost.  This has to be one of my favorites.

A Very Dodds Family Christmas - Uncle Rockie, Ashleigh, Aunt Jean & Taylor.

 Aunt Jan, Aunt Jean, Taylor & Ashleigh.  I think this may have been at Potato Creek.

 Taylor & Matt modeling the early 90's line of Buzzcuts by Kara.

I forgot all about Must Bust.  Ashleigh, Me, Taylor, Travis & Julie.  We spent so many hours around the table playing cards.

  Aunt Jan, Uncle Tom, Kara, Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Jean, Ashleigh, Taylor & Travis.  I think Julie sent them Flat Stanley as part of a school project because I don't think we were there for this or the overall to non-overalls ratio in this photo might have been doubled.

 Ahhh, the Family Matters era.  Who doesn't miss that?  Julie, TayTay, Ash & Matt rocking some Urkel wear.

Ashleigh, Jules, Taylor, Trav, Matt & I with some balloon friends.

Burying Taylor at Tower Hill.  This was such a fun trip.

   Eating and/or playing cards yet again.  Matt, Taylor, Ashleigh & Julie.

 Matt & Taylor looking daper at Grandma & Grandpa's 50th Anniversary party.

 Julie, Kara, Matt, Me, Travis' Date?, Travis, Ashleigh, Taylor & Paul- most mischievous kids table I've ever sat at.

 This one is hands down my favorite- it's my beloved cousin to a T.

 Ashleigh, yours truly, Taylor & Julie doing battle in some bumper boats.

Indiana family trip to Conroe in 2002.  Clockwise starting with the stud on the far left- Uncle Tom, Mom, Matt, Uncle rockie, Aunt Jean, Ashleigh, Julie, Taylor, Kara, Me & Aunt Jan.

  Trip to Indiana Christmas of 2006 - Aunt Jan, Ashleigh, Matt, Kara, Aunt Jean, Julie, Taylor & I.

 My entire Indiana family in Conroe last year for Ryan & I's wedding.  Top to bottom: Brian, Aunt Jean, Ava, Sydney, Kara, Tripp, Aunt Jan, Miranda, Uncle Tom, Travis, Shiloh, Ashleigh, Kyle, Natalie, Grandpa, Taylor, Mom, Paul, Julie & Matt.  (Ryan & I were on our honeymoon.)