LT ~ Romero Jan Vivit III 1990~2011

I am having a very hard putting this blog into words.. I feel like if I write it, it will be true, and that makes my heart break.

 Let me start off by saying how much LT was/is loved, by everyone. He could make you smile in a heart beat and if you were upset make you laugh out loud. One of the best things he did was to have his son, Romero Jan Vivit IV.

I met LT back in 1991, we had just moved in next do to his mom Clair and his sister. LT was almost a year old and he and Kayleigh became fast friends. Kayleigh was only 6mos old at the time, but would laugh whenever LT would come over. LT was full of life, doing the things little guys do, he was always laughing and had such a "grown up" laugh that came out of his little body.. and in turn.. made you laugh. After I had Nickolas, we moved from the Apt we had next to LT, Shanet and Clair and moved into a bigger home.. but never losing contact with them.. they were stuck with us as much as we were stuck with them :)  In 1996 we moved back to Spokane and Clair and the kids let Kayleigh, Nick and I live with them while Lonnie joined the U.S. Army and went off to Basic so for 9 weeks we were a family !! LT was in Kinder then and I remember him getting ready for school with Kayleigh watching and wishing she could go. When LT would come home, they all ran up to the playroom and played until it was time for homework or dinner. LT helped Nick see that getting a haircut was ok and very cool. I remember going to a place and we had LT go first to show Nick that it didn't hurt and  you didn't have to cry and scream, after that day.. Nick never cried again.. he was a big boy just like LT !!  I remember taking the kids to a Mead Basketball game I think I had 5 kids with me that night.. and had a blast. I remember having snowball fights with them in the driveway (after Clair has shoveled the driveway for about an hour) making crafts at the kitchen table and just watching them play like brother and sisters. It was probably one of the best 9 weeks ever!! 

After Lonnie was done with Basic, we moved to GA for a school he had there. But we always kept in touch. A call once a week to " Just checking in" was our thing and we gave updates on the kids, what they were doing, what they were into. When we had the chance, and in town, we would always see LT, Clair and Shanet.  I think that the last time I saw LT was when he was in 7th grade.  Kayleigh and Nick saw him about 5 years ago, we were in town for my 20th HS reunion and Clair took the kids out and they saw LT skateboarding.. I guess Kayleigh yelled at him to get his butt in the car and they hung out the rest of the day.. a day she has never forgotten. I had always got updates on the kids so even if I had not seen them .. I felt like I knew what they were up to. And we were just talking about the kids about three weeks ago when we came into Seattle and had lunch with Clair.

When Clair called me on Dec 18th.. my heart sank.. she called to tell me LT had been missing since Dec. 17th and his jacket had been found. I was headed to Spokane to see my dad on the 19th, I put Clair on hold, told Lonnie she needed a ticket.. not really telling him why.. and he got her one. I guess that's what family does, you don't need to ask why sometimes, you just do it.  On my flight over, all I could do was think about LT.. was he ok.. where was he.. how I was going to chew him out for putting us through this.. In my head, I knew something horrific had happened, but my heart would not let me believe.  On Dec. 20th.. I got a phone call from Clair, She was crying so hard I could barley understand her.. "They found his body in the river" was all I could make out.. I could not begin to tell you how I felt .. crying and shaking on the phone with one of my best friends.. who had just lost her son. There are no true words. I told my dad and he drove me over to where Clair and Shanet were staying. I stayed with her, holding her hand and crying together.

I had to fly back to Puyallup, but told her to keep me up to date with things and if she needed me.. I would come back.   She called to tell me that on Dec 29, 2011 she would be burying LT.  Kayleigh, Lonnie and I dove over on the 28th. Stayed at the same hotel as her and hung out with her that night.. The morning of the 29th we go up.. went to the store and bought them out of Mike and Ike's and Hot Tamales.. LT's favorite. We went to the Centerpoint where the Memorial was going to be and then we drove to Wellpinit to the Longhouse where they were having another memorial there on the Indian Reservation.  In the Indian culture, you have to have the body in the ground by the it got dark so at about 3pm we went to Ford Washington to bury our friend LT. I had never been to an Indian funeral and thought how respectful they were and the traditions they had, they dig the space by hand and lower the body down by hand.. then all the young men cover him with dirt. Again, all of this had to be done be dark. For me, this made it final. It was true.. LT was gone.. and as I sit here typing this.. I cry for the little boy I knew and loved so much. My heart is still broke and there are so many unanswered questions we have. But I do know he is watching over his mom and loves her so much.  RIP LT ~ We will always love you.
Auntie Liz