10 January 2008 - In loving memory of Steven (Jnr)
I can't really "welcome" you here because I so much wish this page had no need to exist, but life sometimes deals us a card we simply cannot understand so I have dedicated these pages to the memory of our beloved son Steven Cook who tragically lost his life on the evening of December 30, 2007 near Mt. Hiwi Lodge, Waverly (between Wanganui & Hawera).
(This page will be regularly updated as more information becomes available so please check back from time to time. Last updated April 5th 2008.)
Steven
was just 22 years old and was taken from all of us much too soon. We love and miss him so very much it hurts.
Our
thoughts remain with his good friend Matt Storey who was in the vehicle with
Steven, and we are very conscious that but for the grace of God, the outcome
could easily have been two deaths and we thank God that Matt's life was spared
that night.
Steven
lives on in our hearts and our memories and there will not be a day where any
of us will not think of him, his cheery voice and his cheeky smile.
To
get a full measure of Steven, you are invited to visit his Bebo (cookee) site * Caution (if you are easily offended) *, which is now being maintained by his two sisters, Dawn & Crystabelle.
* Huh, what is Bebo anyway? (Bebo explained)
Steven's own profile is public, but you won't be able to view those of any of his friends and family who have chosen to keep their profiles private and therefore only accessible by those added as 'friends'. And please be WARNED, some of the comments and content might also make some of you blush, such is the language of the modern young person but we would not have it any other way, that is who Steven was and love is unconditional.
The
following links of scanned newspaper clippings may open in reduced size
depending on your browser settings. If this happens, simply click on the image
and it should enlarge for easy reading, then use your browser 'back' button to
return to this page. I put this page
together very quickly so some refinement may be done as time permits. I aimed for content rather than style.
This
link is for the Newspaper Death Notices which first appeared in the newspapers on Wed 2nd
& Thursday 3rd January.
The
first article to appear was titled "Tragedies
of Summer". This featured on
the front page of the Dominion Post on Thursday 3rd January. A passing comment that I made to the
reporter about Steven being a heartbreaker actually came out quite well as the
closing paragraph. This was not
intended to read quite that way but it turned out to be very true.
The
Wanganui Chronicle ran this story on Friday 4th. "Man with broken legs crawls for help after crash"
The
Kapiti Observer ran this
article on Monday 7th. "Friends farewell Cookee'"
And
The Taranaki Daily News ran their
article on Wednesday 9th. "Plunge survivor wants to make it to mate's funeral"
The most recent article to appear was in the Dominion Post featuring Steven's friend Matt on January 22. "The pain didn't matter. I had to get us out of here"
We
are not aware of any other articles but I will gladly add them if you can give
me details. There
was a turnout of around 500 people at Steven's service, we had around 300
"Order of Service" sheets printed up and they went very quickly. If you did not get one, or were unable to
make it to the service, I have them available to download and print as a PDF
file. To recreate the sheet as original, you will need to print both pages (1,
2),
one on each side, it simply folds in the middle. (It's best in colour) The
words Steven's Mum and I spoke for Steven at his funeral service are reprinted HERE (please read). I know there are many questions surrounding
the apparent pointless death of such a vibrant young man with so much to
offer. I cannot answer many of those
questions as I have them myself. However my personal Christian faith has given me the strength to deal
with this, in the full knowledge that the God I believe in is a merciful God
who loves each and every one of us more than we can ever comprehend. I
don't want to get all "preachy" here, but our human spirituality cannot be denied, and
although I also respect that there are other viewpoints, I can only personally
view things from the perspective and teachings of our Christian God. Others
also spoke at Steven's service and as those words become available to me, I
will reprint then here also. Introduction to Steven Jnr as read by Bruce Stormer... Steven's oldest sister Dawn said... Nick Van Veen - from his heart Sam Stairmand - shares his thoughts Memories from Postgate School - as recalled by two of Steven's teachers, Dave Brown and Clare Smith A different viewpoint - what Steven's Gen-i manager (Andrew) had to say about him (page 1) A different viewpoint - ... as above (page 2)
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