By the time that Devin got to 16, it did really feel like he was an adult and no longer a child or youth. He acted like he was at least ten years older than he actually was by this time.

As soon as he was old enough, he went and got his license. He was so excited that he was now able to be able to get around himself year-round and not be relying on anyone else to take him places or give him rides. During this time, it also was when he really became obsessed with anything motorized and started purchasing more and more vehicles, sleds, and motor bikes.

Devin decided he was done with hockey at around 17. Devin was headed to provincials with his hockey team that year. His team had gotten an automatic spot in provincials that year. He had decided that he was done with the early morning practices and that he was ready to give hockey up once and for all. Devin being Devin decided he wanted to go out in a blaze of glory. Being a goal tender, he never got into any hockey fights. Devin decided he wanted to go out in a hockey fight but knowing there were no other goalies on the team, he decided it was going to be the last game they played near the end of the last period. As we sat there and watched, the game getting rougher and rougher anyway, he made his move and ended the season by having his hockey fight and being given a suspension for the remainder of the game. For Devin, it was just all fun, nothing serious. He had so many laughs about that and thought he left hockey in true Canadian fashion, a hockey fight.

Devin absolutely loved playing football and wanted to go beyond high school football when he graduated. Unfortunately, he hurt his knee at one of the games. When we took him into the doctor, he had to get an MRI on his knee so they could determine the severity of the damage. I remember sitting with him at the doctor getting the results. It was truly devastating to Devin, they were going to have to do a surgery on his knee and the doctor explained that he would never play professional ball. That was one of the hardest days, to see your son sitting there in tears because a dream he had for college or professional ball was now off the table. Once he had the surgery, he was able to play high school ball for the remainder of high school but when high school was over so was football.

When Devin was in grade eleven, we purchased an acreage with the intent of building a house on it. The acreage we purchased already had a little old house on it that Devin claimed right away as being his. I remember that even before we had the purchase finalized, he went out there and got into the little house and decided that he was taking claim to it. He ended up moving out to the little house even before we moved out there. He thought it was so cool that he was still in high school and had his own place. A month or so after he was out there, we moved out to the land as well. We lived in a fifth wheel across the yard from the little house, but Devin didn’t care, he still felt like he had his own pad.

Devin had so many friends and the acreage became the hang out for all of those young people. There were times where Devin wasn’t even home from work and his friends were backed up to his front door unloading supplies for the party they were going to be having. That little house was such an amazing time for Devin, and he loved every minute he got in that house.

Talking about the little house brings back one of my favorite memories of Devin and I. Devin and I were so close, and I knew that no matter how big he was, I could push his buttons at times and know he would never lay a hand on me. Well, the one day we were talking about something in the kitchen of the little house and a few of his friends were in the living room watching tv. Well, things got a little heated because of what we were talking about, and Devin got mad. Me being me, nudged the bear a little more and a little more and then Devin in frustration, let out this big sound like a bear growling and punched the entry wall above my head, leaving two fist marks in the wall. His friends poked their heads out of the living room probably thinking he had just knocked me out. When me and Devin seen that, we both started laughing hysterically as their eyes were all the size of saucers. They probably thought he had just knocked his mama out. We both just continued laughing and gave each other a hug and that was the end of the heated discussion. Honestly, neither of us even remembered what we were arguing about. We both totally forgot after seeing his friends faces. We both talked about that incident many times over the years and each time, we laughed about his friends thinking they had probably just witnessed Devin taking his mother out.

For Devin, the acreage offered a safe place for him and his friends to party, have fun and they all had a place to stay so no one was drinking and even contemplating driving. Some weekends, it was nothing to have a hundred or so kids out at the acreage partying around the fire and having fun. Devin always ensured that they were respectful to the property and to us.

Throughout high school, Devin would come for lunch with me every single day during the week. Normally, one or two of his friends would also tag along. Those were the greatest times in that I got so much time to just learn about Devin as a young man. There were so many stories, and I was able to keep up to him with what was going on in his life. Sometimes the lunch conversations would get super funny as his friends always thought it was a great idea to tell me about some good details from the previous weekend adventures they had had. The one time, one of his friends started telling me a story and I just remember that look on Devin’s face trying to get them to shut up and he even kicked his friend under the table to which his friend just started laughing and said out loud that Devin had kicked him and then proceeded to tell the rest of the story. There were so many laughs around that table and so many memories. It was such an amazing way for me to be able to know what was transpiring in my son’s life.

Devin was finally in grade 12 and could not wait to start his life. He just wanted to be done school and to get out in the work force and get his life started. He was so excited that mom handed over the keys to the escalade for him and his friends for graduation. He was definitely shocked but for me, there was no question. I would do anything for my kids. I was not worried at all that anything would happen to it because Devin was so respectful, there was never a question that it would come back in tip top shape and in fact, came back cleaner than when he took it.

After graduation, Devin was clear in what he wanted. He got going, put money aside and bought his first house at 18. It had a double detached garage for all his toys and so he could work on his vehicles and tinker around. He was so excited to get to move into that house. For Devin, he never spent money on frivolous stuff as everything had a meaning to it and he budgeted every penny of his spending. He always rented out a room or two in the house because then he made back some of his mortgage he was paying, while still paying his mortgage down.

His girlfriend moved into the house with him and they were planning a future together. Everything in their relationship was a negotiation. It was so interesting to see how they decided what was important for them at that point in their lives and what was not.

While in that house, they also bought two dogs. Zeus was a little shih tzu that ended up being Devin’s baby. Zeus loved Devin and Devin loved Zeus. He was Devin’s favorite dog and he was so spoiled. It was nothing to go over to his house and see Devin chilling on the couch and Zeus laying right there with him. The other dog they bought was Pumba and was a Rottweiler. Devin liked Pumba but that dog definitely ended up being more his girlfriend’s dog than his.

Once Devin was in his own place his vehicle obsession became even greater. He bought and sold vehicles all the time. He had such a passion for anything motorized. He also started buying sleds and motorcycles as well. At one point, I counted the total motorized vehicles, sleds and motorbikes him and his girlfriend had and they had ten at the house between the two of them and that did not include any projects he was working on.

He also had the opportunity to put a semi vac on with the company he was driving for during this time and so he jumped on that right away as well and that was the beginning of him running his own unit until his passing. At such a young age, he did not think twice about having his own business and he was so responsible still. He did very well with his company, and he enjoyed the work he was doing.

He ended up selling his first house when he was 20 and bought his second house. This house had an attached double car garage and was a newer home than the first one. He was so excited to move into that house. Everything he did was all orchestrated to be part of the big picture. His plan initially was to live in that house for a year or two then buy an acreage and get out of town.

It was so amazing to watch him through this time in his life as he was so clear in his wants and desires, and nothing was going to hold him back. He planned everything and he got whatever he wanted to get as long as him and his girlfriend agreed on it. He was so grown up for his age, it was always difficult to remember that he was still such a young man with everything he had accomplished already by the age of 20.