Message From Tech School Friend

I am grateful when I meet people who cared about Maris.   I understand the purpose of  life on this planet less and less with every passing day.  The only thing that makes sense about it is the quality of our relationships.  That is why it means so much to know that there were so many awesome people who cared about Maris the way they did, and that he had a positive effect on them.  It bringd me joy and comfort thatl they got to know him and spend even a little time with him.  

" My name is Eric Grace and I was Maris's class leader during tech school in Texas. I want to say that I am so sorry for your loss. Butta as I knew him, was by far the smartest kid in the class. He was also my favorite. That's why I made sure that I sat near him the whole six months. I related to him more than any of the other students, with his quiet demeanor and rich sense of humor.
I know that you already know most of this but I wanted to share with you how I see him. When I got the news I was deeply saddened. I am glad to have been enlightened by his caring soul."



Thank you for these kind words, Eric, and I am so happy your path crossed with Maris's.

Maris's Birthday 2011

We were grateful to receive visits from Maris's friends in honor of his birthday.


Every year, there was a sleepover for Maris's friends.  They did wild and crazy things all night, and it was always a lot of fun.

Friends from Gordon Tech visited on Saturday, November 12--Lukasz, Brian, and Jeff:

 and Peter and Elizabeth, friends from Newberry visited on his actual birthday, November 16

  Thank you so much for being the most special friends in the world.

Visit From Dan and Jeff

Two of Maris's dearest friends stopped by to visit on Sunday January 9.  Dan was home on leave.  He had not been able to attend Maris's birthday party in November.   We are so grateful for these special people, who treasure Maris's memory along with us.

From Maris's dear friend Valeria

The loss of Maris has left such emptiness.

Here is another beautiful email we received from one of Maris's dearest friends:

"I have a little marble Maris gave me that contains plutonium. It glows in the dark. I gave him a little Japanese chess board for his birthday one year, if you guys come across it you now know where it came from. I always meant to but never did apologize to you for helping Maris run up his cell phone bill during the first couple months we were sent overseas, sorry about that, but I think we were both pretty lonely and we missed each other a lot. ...Im expecting my first child, a girl. Her name is Phoenix Marisa Jones. Your son means a lot to me, he is one of the most sincere persons Ive ever known, my dad really liked him when he met him and never stopped asking about him. Maris really liked watching movies and it was something we did a lot, there are so many movies that remind me of him. We also got in trouble together sometimes. Maris was never a troublemaker but I sure am, so people told him to stay away from me. He never judged me though. He was also really, really good at paintball. He would sneak up on me and have me cornered, but never shot me, because he'd never hurt me, even in a game. I want your family to know I am truly thankful that Maris was who he was, and that he shared a bit of his life with me. I know my words could never console your family, but I hope it means something knowing Maris was an amazing friend to a lot of people."