On Tuesday night, May 6, 1980 in Birmingham, Alabama we welcomed our son into this world. We named him ‘Colby’, which means ‘dark or from the black earth’. If he could have waited two more hours he would have been born on his sister Emily’s birthday. However, our joy quickly turned to apprehension. Colby was born a ‘blue baby’. We had heard that term before but were not exactly sure what it meant. It was soon determined that he was born with several major heart defects, the worst of which was a ‘Great Transposition’ – meaning the large arteries arising from the heart were reversed from their normal positions. The second defect was termed a ‘Ventricular Inversion’ which further complicated things. He also had a hole between the pumping chambers, and miraculously it was this defect that gave Colby his only chance to survive because it allowed a small amount of oxygenated blood to mix and circulate through his body. It was a tiny amount but it was just enough!

Those early months were difficult with trips to the hospital for pneumonia, heart catherizations, endless tests, needle pricks, and restless nights. As we prayed for a miracle, the surgeons at UAB Birmingham were developing a plan for his pending operation. In February, 1981, it was time. Colby had to have this operation in order to live much longer. He was nine months old.

The surgery was a success! Even his doctors were amazed at how well it went. We could see immediate proof of that. Gone was the blue color to his skin. It was now pink and plump. He was alert and energetic. As the days passed he grew stronger and began to eat and sleep normally. He was a joy to be around. The ladies in our church nursery claimed him as their own. He had a special place in the lives of our family and, of course, his grandparents. As Colby grew his energy and personality blossomed. He loved to race down the driveway on his ‘big wheel’. He adored his sister Emily. He was quite indignant when his first bicycle came with training wheels and he insisted they be removed. He made quite a sight as he was learning to ride – every mailbox and tree in the neighborhood was a magnet for his bike and his head! The next thing we knew he was building a jump ramp from scrap wood in the garage – anything to increase the thrill and danger! Colby loved his church, especially the RA Ministry with their camping outings, bike rodeos, Pinewood Derby races, and music camps. His friendships with buddies Brandon, Jordan, Johnny, Travis, Nathan, and the rest of the gang in Orlando were special. His name surely fit him well…especially when the black, sandy Orlando soil mixed with the sweat on this kid whose motor was always running in high gear. He reminded us of Pigpen from the Peanuts comic strip. Life was good!

We moved to Alpharetta, Georgia as Colby was beginning his middle school years. His interest in sports was growing, especially football and basketball. He played three years of football on the local Pop Warner teams and was quite the star, scoring several touchdowns and playing tough defense. But basketball was his true love. Every year he played on his church teams and usually a YMCA team at the same time. It was normal for him to play two games every Saturday. He could score and shoot the ‘three’ but he would much rather penetrate the defense and ‘dish the rock’ to assist another team mate in the score. Through the years he kept getting good checkups from his cardiac checkups. His doctors told us to let him do whatever he felt like doing with one exception – there could never be any varsity sports at the high school level.

And that’s where problems began. Colby wanted more than anything to play high school basketball, but his doctors were emphatically against it. He began to struggle with his self-esteem and with his focus in school. He fell behind in his classes and nothing we could say or do produced any positive results. Things declined to the point that he gave up and dropped out of high school. Although we felt we had failed, we never gave up praying for him, loving him, and keeping communicaton open (thanks to his Mom!). He was not lazy – he kept jobs and even did some independent study. About a year later Colby informed us he wanted to take the GED test and go to college. Success!

Colby enrolled at Truett-McConnell College in Cleveland, Georgia. It was said at his Celebration Service that all the girls adored him and all the guys were jealous! As always, he made friends fast and adjusted to college life, although some of the stories we heard made us wonder how seriously he was really taking things. From TMC he transferred to West Georgia University for a semester. He then transferred to North Georgia College and State University where he would finally graduate in August, 2005, with a degree in Business Management. Never one to be suited for office work, Colby earned his Georgia Real Estate License and began working as an agent with Remax Around Atlanta. He was a natural – listing and selling several properties in those few months before his death. Colby loved intramural sports, his guitar, Alabama Crimson Tide football, camping, rock-climbing, occasional skydiving with his Dad, and off-roading in his Tacoma 4X4.

During his college years Colby began a Christian speaking ministry ‘NHim Ministries’. His life verse was Acts 17:28 – “For in Him we live and move, and have our being.” He began to develop a deeper hunger for God’s Word and a longing to share it with students. He was an active leader and speaker with SWAT, Impact, SuperWow, Dworshak Water Ski camps in Idaho, Fellowship Christian Academy, and DiscipleNow weekends all over Georgia and north Florida.

While he was at North Georgia, Colby called one day to say he wanted to bring someone by for us to meet. He introduced us to Holli and we were immediately drawn to her. Colby had a very specific philosophy on dating and that’s a whole other story. It was obvious that he put Holli on a pedestal and that comes shining through in his journal entries. In April, 2006 – Easter weekend – after they had been dating nearly two years, Colby called us to say he wanted to get an engagement ring for Holli. We were beyond thrilled for them! After asking permission from Holli’s father, he proposed to Holli just a few days before the end of her final semester of college. She said ‘yes!’.

After lunch on Satuday, May 13, 2006, Colby and some friends were playing Ultimate Frisbee at his apartment. He was about to get dressed for Holli’s graduation that same afternoon. Our families were to meet after the ceremony for an evening dinner. Colby and Holli were planning to share their wedding date – June 16, 2007. Holli’s father had talked to Colby around 2:00pm and told him they would pick him up at his apartment around 3:30pm. As Colby was taking a break from Frisbee, his friends said he just sat down, stretched his legs, lay back on the ground, looked up and trembled for a moment and then he was gone. His friends began CPR but they said his spirit was immediately gone. His heart, which was thickened and hardened from years of extra working, suddenly just quit without any warning.

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It’s been hard for us to accept the idea that God would ‘take’ our son at this point in his life, when everything was moving in such a positive direction. But we’re reminded that God never promises to be fair to us. However, He does promise new mercies every morning. He does promise that He will never leave us and that He will be there with us in the dark valleys of life. He does promise that He will send His Comforter to us. He does promise to be all that we ever need. We like to think of it like this – whether or not God decided to take Colby, He certainly did receive him with open arms, fully knowing that this day was coming. We are allotted a specific number of days on this earth and Colby made the most of his. He wrote in his journal about how he longed for the day he would meet his Lord. Now he knows! We’ve often heard people say “It’s not right for parents to out-live their children.” That is true, but as we see it, we did not out-live Colby. He out-lived us!