I knew Pete for a year in seventh grade at Lakeside Junior High. We were in almost all the same classes and became great friends.I even knew Aaron, if it is the same Aaron who was the most popular guy at Montclair Elementary....Anyway, I have spent the last few years since hearing of Pete's death with a cloud over me. Why him? He was so kind and sweet, especially to me. I had alot of trouble at home when we knew each other, and he would always listen to me. That means alot. The reason that the cloud is lifting now is from this website. My God, Pete, you touched alot of people. Everyone said how you lived so full and loved so deep. You had a beautiful wife, and a gorgeous daughter and a wonderful family. Even though you are gone from us, you contributed to this world in a way that few do. You made an impact, and a difference. What a great legacy for your daughter. Not everyone who dies really lives.....that sums it up so well and it is ironic that it comes from your favorite movie. The night I heard of your death, I dreamt of us back in seventh grade. You were all in white, and at the head of the class, just sitting, and listening, and smiling. You did not speak and I was the only one who saw you. You waved at me, and I waved at you. You said "I gotta go now." and I said "I know." I looked down to cry, and you were gone. Thinking of you reminds me of the last line in the movie "Stand by Me." (paraphrasing) I never again had friends like I did when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone? I love you Pete.
Jeannette, I thank you for writing here. Your entry touches me, just as did the letter you wrote to our family before Christmas, which I treasure. Pete did grow to be a young man I admired for many reasons, even though I was well aware of his frailties. You knew Pete in junior high, at an age when most of us are neither as bad or as good as we are going to someday be. The letter you wrote to us showed us a side of Pete that we saw later, but certainly not then. Seventh grade is not the easiest time in a person's life to do what is kind or right, and it was heartening to know that even then he was the young man I grew to be so proud of.
