Honoring Colin Mckeen: Support His Family

https://youtu.be/3ZWPDmbiqZ4?si=9NI0OFnocmjshvAI

On May 22nd the world lost a beautiful, kind, selfless man with the heart of a child, Colin Mckeen. He was 35 years young. He wanted nothing more then to know everyone was living their life and were happy. Under his quiet demeanor was a silly dad joke slinging guy. He loved to get any kids he was around to ride bikes, teach them how to do tricks on a skateboard, go rock climbing, drift a go-cart...safely. There are so many stories that people would share of the shenanigans they got into and oh how they laughed. To get Colin to really laugh was such a gift. It was a beautiful sound I don't think anyone would forget. He wasn't one for a lot of words but he would show up every time no matter what. He may comment if there wasn't dessert involved, but nevertheless he was there. It shows in the fact that his childhood friends never left his side and he was a constant in their life. He showed his sister how to do so many things and you can tell she learned that curiosity to do something you had never done but to always try. She knows how to do more on a car than alot of women because she always asked him questions why things worked that way. He always showed patience when teaching, he loved the excitement and confidence they got from it. He did the same for his nephew Elliot when he showed him how to be brave and push himself to do it even if it scared him. He met Stephanie and despite liking kids he wasn't sure about the responsibilities that come with raising 2 kids that he didn't share blood with. True love doesn't care about timing and they fell for each other. He brushed Anna's hair for the first time when she was 9 years old. He took his time and taught both Anna and Ava how to ride their bikes. Then came dirt bikes, onewheels, 4 wheelers and tractors! He would sing the island boys song loudly through the whole house to bug the girls or start ball fights in the house and even though things got broken sometimes he laughed and shrugged it off. The memory of all of our laughter was more important than any belongings. He loved Anna and ava with all his heart. They were his babies.

He was blessed with his little Nova in 2022 and I watched him cry for the first time at how beautiful she was. She looks just like him even at 18months old. He taught her to walk and took her to work everyday while working full time, he played with her and she has no fear now. She would climb anything to follow her daddy. We talked so much about the future and he had written out a 4 year plan just a week before we lost him. He wanted to home school the girls and travel with them to different states. Put our toes in the rivers and stop and watch sunrises together. He would not stop talking about taking everyone out to tail of the dragon in Tennessee and just enjoy the mountains and curves with his friends and family. I wish we could have done so many things. He got me my first bike and taught me to love bikes just as much as him, so much he proposed at the track as I wondered excitedly at the zooming motorcycles. He got to see so many of his friends and family due to get togethers that just happened to be right before he was taken. We can't replace that time with him but oh how we are so lucky to have gotten to hear him laugh and say good bye to them. His parents Rhonda and Mike were so important to him and at no point did he have a bad thing to say about them. He knew they were always there for him and mentioned how lucky he was constantly. The outpouring of love for him has given his little girls and family so much comfort that he made such an impact in everyone he met. He would only want you all to "relax and do some yoga." He firmly believed a lot of problems would just resolve themselves if we looked at the big picture, our worries were trivial and could be solved with a good laugh or bad dad joke. He was an incredibly hard worker and it shows when you can look all around the world and see his work through building tesla coils with his close friend and boss Aron. He would always be there on time and never complained even if it was yard work. He had so many plans he will never get to complete with the girls and a burden for his girls and myself to carry on our own. He left a huge hole in our lives and it can't be replaced with finances. Those can't teach Nova how to ride a bike. But despite my pride he would want nothing more then to take care of our little girls. We love you and Colin loved you all.

He didn't have life insurance, he was so young and we didn't expect to lose him.