I just wanted to share how special of a person he truly was. I think often about what an impact he made in my life.

When I began working for Bobby, I didn’t have a college education, I was going through a divorce and working really hard at raising a daughter on my own. During my employment with BSA, I started college then quit because the stress was getting to me. Working a full-time job, going to school at night and raising a child as a single mom was extremely hard at the time.

Time went by and I still didn’t enroll back in school but Bobby always had encouraging, supportive words for me. He admired how strong I was. He always told me that I was a great Mother and was such a positive influence on me.

I have to take a moment to thank Bobby for his positive words, unconditional support and love that he and Jan extended to me and Lisi.

I have to say THANK YOU to Bobby because he always told me that I could do anything I wanted and he believed in me.

THANK YOU BOBBY….
for encouraging me to complete my bachelor…which I did!!!! My Bachelor Degree in Business Administration with a minor in Finance.
for always telling me that I am a great Mother. My daughter graduated a year early from high school and started college this past semester and now I am a proud parent again. I have a son. Christian Isaiah (10 months old).
for teaching me to be patient and that communication is extremely important.
for teaching me that even though a marriage is not always perfect, you stick together and make it work. Your love for Jan and the kids was extremely special.

Jan – Thank you for everything and may God always bless you, Maris and Zane.

Frances

I didn’t think there would ever be a time that I could write anything. However, I am still jet lagged and it’s early in the morning. The kids and I are back from Switzerland where we took Bobby’s ashes to his favorite place Bettmeralp, Switzerland. http://www.bettmeralpbahnen.ch/e/live/bettmeralp_l.html. This trip was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. As soon as we got there we were tired from the travel, but our room wasn’t ready. We took a trip on a funicular to the top of a mountain in Interlaken. We were hungry and tired and couldn’t find a place to sit outside. Bobby would always want to sit outside. We had to sit inside and as the three of us sat there trying to make out the menu in German, we silently cried. And I thought, “What am I doing here”! I must have been crazy to think that I could do this alone. This is our “new normal”. Making plans, walking, talking, and dreaming, all without him. Being in a foreign country you feel isolated to begin with. We felt isolated as three instead of four. Our buffer, comedian, uplifter and tour guide was gone. These were the trips he and I shared together every summer for 20 plus years. I felt like my heart was going to explode several times while I was there. My heart ached for myself, and ached for my kids. But as always, God carried us through it. We had the incredible blessing of Becca Teaster, a forum mate and friend who joined us at the end of the trip. After leaving Bettmeralp we had 4 days left and she literally saved the end of the trip for all of us. She stepped up to the plate and took over having conversations with the kids, encouraging them about our up coming move to Tulsa, asked the questions that needed to be asked and loved each of us unconditionally. I believe, without a shadow of a doubt, that God has his hand on the kids and me each step of the way. It’s chilling to see how he has put in front of me the right person, the right conversations, the right events so that I am able to wake up each morning and put one foot in front of the other and climb this mountain I am staring up at.

Bobby’s death will always leave a hole in my heart that can never be filled. My days are harder now, because I am no longer numb. I have to face being alone. Reality starts to hit me in little segments each day. I cry a lot more now. They call them “grief bursts”. I know I have to go through these and not let them build up. I am embracing what I’ve lost.

Bobby cared a lot about everyone in a very deep way. I am constantly amazed at the quality of friends he and I have. True friends. Even my family in Tulsa is amazed. It’s much better to give than to receive. And the more you give, the more God gives you. Our friends are a testament to all the giving Bobby gave. Bobby didn’t do what he did without thought and purpose. He had a plan. Being an engineer by nature he made spreadsheets and lists. He had a list with names, numbers and websites on things to do with the four of us for one day, two days, three days, or a four-day weekend. He had a spreadsheet on his goals. Spend time with Zane, spend time with Maris, acts of kindness, workout, Martial Arts, call Mom, Sister, Brother, send out EO birthday cards, EO board to-do’s and work related goals. He would check them off when he had done one of these things on his list and he could keep up with whether he was doing a good job or needed to improve in certain areas. A very purposeful life. He wrote letters to his parents, to the kids and one to me (after going to a Steven Covey seminar). Priceless words! He had answered a questionnaire that his one of his coaches had given him about his childhood. It was a wonderful gift I gave his mother. She knew, but the letter and questionnaire confirmed he had two great caring parents that gave him a remarkable childhood and great foundation for life. After being together 29 years you take for granted what you have. You question if you are still in love as you once were. We were looking forward to growing old together. And that was happening too fast. We had plans to move to Dallas when the kids graduated from High School and following them to their colleges. Our marriage at the time he died, was the best it had ever been. I was in Tulsa for my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary with the kids. It was a quiet, low-key event and Bobby didn’t want to miss the EO event on Sat. However, we talked on the phone every day. Sometimes calling twice a day. I was the last one to talk to him when he was driving to Love field for the flight. We laughed about all the exciting events he had for his 50th and that he would remember it forever. He was on such a high from all his friends making it special.

Now that he’s gone I realize what an excellent teacher he was to me. I am smarter and calmer because of him. He was a gentle person who always knew what to say. He read every day and meditated. And was always seeking to know and understand God. He stopped to take time for himself and that gave him the strength to take care of others. I pray that the Zane, Maris and I can take his legacy and springboard into a great life full of wonderful memories and knowledge that he gave to each of us.

I want to say THANK YOU to everyone for their generous donations, acts of kindness, shoulders to cry on, notes, phone messages, driving lessons for my kids, outings for my kids, notes on this blog, coming to Bobby’s visitation, his services and The Bobby Blanchard Memorial Golf Tournament. May God continue to bless the Phillips, Burkes, Carters, the EO organization, Bobby’s forum group, the Blanchard family, the Cozort family, Zane and Maris’ school and Church friends, North Davis and my wonderful forum group.

With the love of Christ, Jan Blanchard

to Ken Schaefer….words cannot describe how much it meant to me to be with you down at Ardmore, OK on that night after the crash. You will always be my brother.

to the Dallas EO members….I have something kinda funny to tell you. Bobby and I talked maybe once every three or four weeks. When he was busy doing something that he loved, it would be a little longer in between calls. Didn’t concern me any. We are brothers. And not always too much new stuff to say to each other. Since he began to submerge himself into the EO world, the calls to me were few and far between. Thanks for giving my brother a world that he loved. Here’s my note……

As I was waiting on a friend to arrive for an evening out last Friday, I decided to call Bobby and wish him a happy birthday. Upon answering the phone, I let loose with an elongated, ugly chorus of Happy Birthday at the top of my lungs. Being a concerned brother with no intentions of bruising my ego, he said “Wow, thanks”!! Bobby told me that he was en route to a dinner party with friends in Dallas that evening. As we both began to share our special upcoming evening events, I could tell that he was just as curious and happy to hear my plans as well as I was enjoying listening to his.

And as we do in most conversations, Bobby and I touched on certain subjects that have always been our common bond such as exercising and whether it helps us look any younger or at least keeps our age in check, if possible.

Then, we began to talk of life’s milestones such as turning 30 and now 50. Bobby said that he remembered being in a gym somewhere out of state working out on the day that he turned 30 and was thinking how OLD that seemed at the time. He said that he was amazed now that his weightlifting was more productive than ever. He told me about re-entering martial arts lately and how his body hasn’t felt this abused in some time. As we were talking proud of our dedication, Bobby said that it is so necessary now more than ever in our lives because with turning 50 and counting, he has seen too many people go unexpectedly due to neglect.

Then, we turned to our careers in the conversation. I knew that due to time restraints, Bobby and I would not be too detailed in talking on this subject, but we always took the time to update each other. Over the past year, I knew that Bobby had made significant decisions in his career that would lead him down a different path than he had ever journeyed. And on Friday night, on the last time that I was to talk with him, for the first time in all of our recent conversations, Bobby put it all together for me on how this transition was working. He said, “ I spent a great deal of the time in my career up to recent years concentrating only on me and my family and the climb up the ladder of success.” But then he said, “None of that can even compare to the joy that I now receive helping other people further their careers.”

As we brought our conversation to a close, I told him that I loved him and he said that he loved me, too. We both clicked off our cellphones and began our fun evenings. Separate, but always together.

Bobby, I will always love you, miss you, quote you, dream of you, see you and be with you.

Your brother and friend.

Rick