Sen. Rosemary (D-Bothell) offered Senate Resolution 8656 to honor the deaths of Bothell community members, Tim and Cheryl Owen.
The Owens, and their three children Jessie, Jeremy and Jaime and her husband Steven embarked, on a family trip to Leavenworth to enjoy the holiday season on Dec. 21, 2013. A large snow laden tree, over 125-feet tall, fell on their family car.
The community of Bothell was devastated with the death of Tim and Cheryl Owen and the injuries of 27-year-old Jessie, who is temporarily paralyzed with a spinal cord injury. Jaime, 24, and husband Steven, 24, have significant fractures and challenging physical and emotional damages.
Jeremy, 22, who was sitting in the back of the Chevy Suburban, walked away from the accident with emotional and physical bruises. Jessie can’t remember anything about the accident, but she wanted to thank all the first responders in the Wenatchee area for coming to their rescue.
The Owen family was a multi-cultural family referred to as the “rainbow family.” Jaime was adopted from Asia, Jeremy was adopted from Georgia. Jessie learned to believe that babies were delivered by airplanes. She was the Owen’s biological daughter.
A memorial was held at Bothell High School in tribute to Tim and Cheryl Owen. Over 300 community members attended.
Tim was a girls’ soccer coach. He got a bunch of girls to bond together during their awkward teenage years. Cheryl gladly opened her heart and home to all the friends. Jeremy was a football star at Bothell High School and is now attending Western Washington University.
At the memorial Jeremy spoke about his parents who were always teaching them to try new things, push themselves, accept people for who they are, and give back to their community. He also said, “Mom and Dad are probably taking care of the Sandy Hook children in Heaven.”
“We have a long road ahead,” said Jessie, a 6th grade teacher at Frank Love Elementary in Bothell. “I believe that goodness comes out of tragedies. I have seen so much of my community come out to support my family, to wrap us up in their arms and take care of us. Just having people step up and show their love has been a tremendous happiness for us all.”
Jessie attended a play at the elementary school, in her wheel chair. The children dedicated the play Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Jessie who has shown what it truly means to have a determined and positive attitude.
Jaime, a law student at Seattle University, and Stephen who works for Microsoft, are up and walking with many visits to rehabilitation at Harborview Medical Center.
A special gift, a jersey, came from a three time winner of the Tour de France, Greg LeMond. He wrote a quote by poet Walter Elliot, “Perseverance is not a long race. It is many short races, one after the other.”
Step by challenging step with clear determination, progress has been made by each of these young adults. Follow them on: lovetheowens.wordpress.com.
