JLEulogies

Tomorrow is now today

Yesterday can be forgotten

you will be forever

and you will not be forgotten

All 9 of us were together one last time

Your eight sisters holding your hands

Not wanting to say good-bye

We made it through every breath

as we pushed your snooze

Buying more time

Mom saying "Megan will be here soon"

We all told you to keep it up

You were doing so great

as we egged you on

You listened, and filled your lungs

You just needed us to cheer you on

But some things just aren't enough

God's plan was to take you up

you waited for everyone to be there

so you held on as much as you could

That last breath really shook us up

We screamed--we cried

We all wanted to die

Yet we all knew it was best

you had suffered enough

We just wish you could still be here with us

We were all here for you during these 6 months

Now you are here for us watching from above

Life goes on, Which we know is true

But you were John--the one and only true you

You had it all--and went for it all

You pushed the limits

and went far beyond

You made your parents proud to say that you were theirs

You showed everyone that you were never scared

Most of all to me

You looked out for me--and I hated that

but now I see

that you weren't being mean

that's why you showed me the ropes

and toughened me up

you were there when I was in a rut

i never knew what to do

so you helped me through

you were different then anyone I ever knew

For you are my big brother John

like no other--you accomplished so much

brought everyone together

just look around

you are a son, brother, lover, and friend

we will all show the world the John we know

you came into this world with all your family there

and you left this world with us and even more, right by your side

Dad, Mom, Lisa, Saffron, Megan, Erin, Sharona, Shannon, John, Samantha, and Chelsea

that will forever be the order--never to be forgotten

For you are our John and you are not mundane.

FAMILY TRIBUTE TO JOHN LEE - read by Megan

On January 20, 1986, the boy the Osenbaugh family had waited for finally arrived. Even from the beginning he was choosing not to be mundane- making our mother endure four days of labor before being born at home with our father and all six sisters present.

John pushed the limits throughout his life. Not wanting to be "normal" while attending Walnut Middle School, John tried out many different hair colors -green, blue, bright red. When school policy was changed to prohibit unnatural hair colors, he got his hair cut into a mohawk. Once again, school policy was changed to prohibit this, too.

John soon found an outlet for his exuberant personality in BMX biking. In the process of learning to do tricks, John had some interesting ideas. One of his early attempts at safety was tying a jump rope to the bike as a seatbelt to keep him safe in the event of an accident until his next accident when he couldn't get away from his bike! Another time, John was riding his bike on the street and turned to wave to a friend- and then ran into a parked truck! His front teeth were messed up and he had to have a cast on them for several months! He went around telling people that his teeth had fallen out as a child and that when the adult teeth came in they were fused together!

More than accidents came out of John's love of biking. While still in middle school, John joined four skaters in going to City Hall to lobby for a bike and skate park to be built because there was no where for local teens to go to practice their stunts. When plans were being made for the park, John contributed to the final park design. While enjoying the fruits of his labor riding at the park, John wore full safety gear. Past experience had taught him that it was necessary to wear this, regardless of how much he was teased. This was the example John set for the younger bikers just coming out to learn tricks.

Friends were an important part of John's life: he had many fun times with them, as well as knowing they could rely on each other in a bind. One night last winter Nick called him to say his car was stuck in the snow. John went in his Jimmy to help Nick out. They got the car out and Nick left. Then, on the way home, John ran out of gas and had to call Nick to come back to help him!

John enjoyed practical jokes, including one called "Fire in the Hole", which he learned when it was played on him while working at McDonald's. The way this joke works is that you go through a drive-through and order a drink. After you pay for it and the cashier hands it to you, you yell "Fire in the hole!" and throw it back into the store! When this happed to John, he came home from work that night still soaking wet with pop and laughing at the joke. He couldn't wait to turn around and try the prank on others.

Coming from a big family, Mom, Dad, and us eight sisters were definitely a big part of John's life. Through good times and bad, our family has stayed close. Samantha recalls that, regardless of the times they fought, John was always looking out for her and even forced her to talk about difficult things sometimes. Chelsea remembers a time that she was trying to irritate John by turning on and off the family room lights. When John finally had enough, he put Chelsea in a corner and put a dirty sock in her mouth!

In the fall of 1995, our family was scheduled for the first family portrait that would include Mom and Dad with all nine children. The night before, several sisters and John were at home alone and got into a fight that turned into a wrestling match. In trying to escape, John got a door slammed on his face and ended up with a black eye! The next day, John had to be specially positioned in the portrait to try to hide the evidence of the fight the night before.

As his older sisters began getting married, John enjoyed having brothers join the family. He finally had some males close to his age to hang out with at family times, and he knew he could rely on his brothers. One winter evening, Darren got a call from John. He'd been doing donuts in the parking lot at Fonner Park and got the Fiero stuck in a snow bank. Darren, Kyla, and Mariah went immediately to shovel him out. For his next birthday, Darren gave John a fold-up shovel to keep in the car. After the incident, Kyla and Mariah were told that Grandma and Grandpa didn't need to know about what happened. As young as his nieces were, they kept John's secret from his parents.

Freshman year, John met the love of his life, Kendra Hansen. She didn't quite see things that way at first, though. He initially sent a friend to go ask her out on his behalf, which she immediately rejected because of his weird haircut! Once she finally did go on a date with him, she was afraid he'd ask her to go steady, which he did. She made him wait til Monday for an answer, and even then avoided him all day before saying yes. Throughout their high school years, John and Kendra grew to care very deeply for each other and for graduation this spring John gave Kendra a promise ring. They had planned to marry after finishing college.

John's struggles with his brain tumor increased immediately after graduation while he was in Phoenix for treatment. This was a very difficult time for John and all of his loved ones, yet some good memories came out of this time. Dad shares that it was a privilege to be with John everyday for three months straight--something very few fathers get to experience with their 18-year-old son. Instead of leaving all of John's care to the nurses, Dad was able to take care of his personal needs when John was unable to perform many basic tasks of life. Dad was able to take John to all his therapy appointments and took pictures of his progress to immediately email home to family.

John and Dad also spent a lot of time sharing laughs about guy stuff: farting, picking his nose, scaring the nurse by pretending to throw up. John even talked Dad into walking him in his wheelchair the ten blocks from the hospital to McDonald's in 104° heat. Dad tried to talk him into going to Subway, which was much closer, but John insisted on McDonald's.

John lived life on his own terms, never abiding by someone else's expectation of what he was supposed to do. That determination to not have a mundane life is why all of you are here with us today, celebrating who John Lee Osenbaugh was. He lived with a passion rarely seen in these days of conformity. He pushed for change when he saw it was needed. He questioned rules that didn't make sense. He made a difference in his world and challenged others to do the same. As John said in his graduation speech at the 2004 commencement of Senior High, "What have you done? Have you done anything worth speaking of? They told us it would be over before we knew it. I didn't believe them, but they were right. And they were right about making the most of it, because now we are going on to real life."