The Year End Letter Of 2017! It was a Fun Year, but also Sad!

The Year End Letter of the Kerofsky Family 2017

As this year ends I reflect on my son Ken whom we lost just three days before Christmas last year in a drowning accident as he was exploring the Rock River and fell through the ice by Harold’s Landing in Moline. Things are not the same at home without my son around. Halloween, which is our favorite Holiday, was not the same without him and Christmas will never be the same, as we decorate the tree together, open gifts, and have our family feast.

Though I have lost a son my wife and I had a productive year. I went camping alone at Sugar Bottom Campground at Coralville Lake to honor my son Ken over Fathers Day weekend. I went swimming at the beach, rafting, and hiked one of the nature trails. I had fun in spite of getting harassed by a deputy and a park ranger for making a video and camping alone.

I made a video for YouTube to honor Ken. I did not let the harassment stop me from having fun. After camping I went to Perkins, which was my son Ken’s and I favorite place to go after camping. I got the Tangler Burger, Fries, and Pancakes.

In July my wife and I rented a SUV and went on a two week road trip out west. The first day we drove for over 12 hours. We went through Illinois, Iowa, Kansas City Missouri, to Wichita Kansas. Was pretty exhausted by the time we got to Wichita so we crashed at the Super 8; After having a fun dinner at the Carlos O’ Kelly’s. We had a blast there and the waiter was nice. And believe it or not it was authentic Mexican food. The second day we drove through the flat lands of Kansas. Saw lots of cows and hay barrels. We drove through a section of Oklahoma in which we stopped for a picnic lunch at a place called Guymon. We explored the park which had a pig statue and a Rock Island Line train car. It was fun. Then we drove through a strip of Texas and on to Albuquerque New Mexico. In Albuquerque we ate at a place called the Owl Café. It was an unique old time burger bar with one of a kind milk shakes like the Elvis shake I got which was peanut butter and banana and delicious.

The third day we drove on across to Arizona. Where we spent 4 days at Chandler while visiting my wife Jill’s aunts and cousins. It was a joy swimming in the pool and talking to Jill’s cousin Pashay about the martial arts. In Arizona we went to visit my wife’s brother John and we went to the Arizona Memorial Cemetery to see her dad’s grave where I got to see my Grand Master Robert A. Trias grave as well. I took Jill to the Grand Canyon which she got to see for her first time. And then we went to Utah where we visited her Aunt Hannie. We stopped for one night and ate at a place called Houston’s Trail End which had the best Salisbury Steaks. In Utah we went to Sandy where my wife grew up and explored. Went to her old elementary school Oakdale, old high school Brighton, and hung out with her friends at a place called Jims Restaurant. On the last day I took her to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory which she had for the first time. 

We had a lot of fun on the road trip.

Afterwards we hightailed it home through the Utah pass back to Moline Illinois.

In August my wife and I went to the 31^st Battleship New Jersey BB-62 reunion in Chicago.

It was a nice weekend in Chicago. The weather was warm with a nice breeze. We went to eat Chicago Deep Dish Pizza at Gino’s East, went and explored at Navy pier, and saw the big Ferris wheel built during the 1893 Worlds Fair. At the reunion chatted with some of the old battleship sailors and had a nice dinner. I had the Chicken Florentine and Jill had the beef.

So we had a fun year even though we lost our son Ken. His memory is forever in our hearts as the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays approach. He is forever missed. My son Tim is still working at China Café as a delivery driver. He plans on attending college again soon. He helped with the Halloween decorations this year. We set up the yard in honor of Ken.

Though 2018 is approaching the memory of our son Ken will never fade as the years pass.