LifeStory

Steven Kennedy

By Katie Kennedy

Son, brother, uncle, BMX rider.

Steven Thomas Kennedy
Memorial
katzygolf .
Nephew - I held Steve on my lap in the back seat of my sister's van in Coronado, CA when he was only weeks old. He was a precious bundle, so sweet. Every time I looked away from his eyes to talk to someone he cried.

Before he could talk, we were at a restaurant and someone ordered strawberry pie. It had huge shiny red strawberries piled with whipped cream decoration and looked so good, all I remember is Steve in his perfect crisp outfit, standing up on the seat laughing and smiling watching it come to him not fast enough.

He was always the cutest boy from baby through childhood with his blond hair and perfect face and then his constant smile. He always looked clean cut and was the best looking guy. I loved him and I cared about him.

He was younger than 2 and was visiting gramma's, playing golf with a huge plastic driver. He had a beautiful perfect swing. Later in the day I got pictures of him in the back yard in his diaper walking around with a bucket over his head. To me he was the sweetest kid in the world.
Thomas Kennedy
Dad on a BMX Bike?
One summer day in Southern California I had just finished mowing the lawn and was watching Steven carve out a few mounds to create some bike jumps. He was so excited to have somewhat of a track to ride his BMX bike on our property. He was working up quite a sweat so I thought he might take a break and I asked him if I could take a lap on his bike. I began to pick up some speed to see what I could do as he made it look so easy. On the very first jump I ended crashing and flying over the handlebars and lying on my back. I must admit I was in shock and a little embarrassed. Steven came running over to me asking if I was alright. I said give me a minute. I will be fine. Then we both started laughing about my first, and last, BMX experience. I gave him back his bike and said you go enjoy yourself. I ducked in the house and took 2 Advil. There was no need to tell Mom.
Katie Kennedy
Another memory from the dinner table: me, Mom and Steve were playing a lipreading game at the table where we'd silently move out mouths to say a phrase and the other person would have to guess said phrase. I guessed my Mom's phrase and we then turned to Steven to guess what he was saying. His lips and whole jaw moved around with no sense at all and we had no idea what he was trying to get at, so we made him repeat it a few times because it was so funny to watch him. In utter disbelief that we couldn't understand his crazy motions, he suddenly exploded with, "MUSTARD SANDWICHES!"
Katie Kennedy
A classic from childhood: Dad was preparing some boxed mashed potatoes as a dinner side, and there was debate about how thin or thick they should be. We two kids preferred a smoother, more stirrable texture (because that's the best!) and Dad's opinion differed. After they were plated up, fourish-year-old Steven took a test bite and famously proclaimed, "These potatoes are a little too sniff!" with all the worldly child judgement he could muster. It was an instant classic, repeated gleefully for many years.
Thomas Kennedy
One of my favorite Golf Stories...
Steven was a natural athlete: soccer, baseball, roller hockey and certainly BMX.
I wanted to get him interested in playing golf with me. I took him with me on a late Saturday afternoon to play on a local 9 hole course to get him started. He was in 8th grade. We rented a set of clubs for him and off we went. We approached a short par 3 hole, maybe 120 yards. He asked me what club he should use. I said try a 7 iron. He did. He hit the ball on the green about 3 feet from the flag. There we 2 older gentlemen playing right behind us commented how impressed they were with his shot. A little WOW factor! He said, “ It’s really not that difficult”. I will never forget that round. It was priceless... and he did make the par!
Steven Thomas Kennedy
Memorial