Be like Eggs - from Rich Ekman

I rarely called Jason by his name. As did many of you, I always referred to Jason as Eggs. When Greg and I first interviewed Jason for his Park and Recreation job, we mispronounced his last name, as “Free Bath”. He quickly said, “no worries, it happens all the time. Just call me Eggs.” To correct people who mispronounced his name, he would say, it is pronounced FRYBOTHE. Think of it like you are ordering breakfast from a chef, “I’ll have two eggs, fry both eggs please.” He said his friends shortened that down to Eggs.

Eggs was born and raised in Sheridan, Wyoming. He was proud of where he grew up and even tattooed the Wyoming Bronco on his shoulder to let everyone know. Eggs went to college at the U of A and NAU and proudly displayed his Arizona license plate on his office desk. However, despite his upbringing, to me Eggs was always a true Bendit. He truly loved living in Central Oregon and in the short 10 years he lived here, he took advantage of all the recreational opportunities that this area and climate offer 12 months out of the year.

Eggs loved heading up to Mt B with his snow board and spending the day shredding the deep powder on the trails off of Northwest and Outback lifts. Often times, he would sneak in a good three hours of boarding before starting work after the lunch hour.
Eggs was a great golfer. I remember being very fond of his smooth, effortless golf swing. Often times I would step up to the tee box and hit what I thought was a nice long drive with my driver. You can imagine my frustration when Eggs would step up to the tee, and despite the fact that he was a good 5 inches shorter and 50 pounds less than me, he would hit his trusty 4 iron 50 yards further and straighter than my drive.

Eggs would look forward to playing hooky from work to go fishing with his boss and fishing buddy Billboard. They would sneak away on a bright clear blue bird morning and head off to some remote Central Oregon lake and fish from sun up to sun down. Eggs would come to work the next day grinning from ear to ear sharing fish total stories.

Eggs was a great tennis player. He played tennis in high school and college. I played doubles in my first and only tennis tournament with Eggs, the Collier Cup, and we won!! I remember teasing Kevin saying, there is nothing to this sport. I just played in the first tournament I have ever played in, and won it. The fact was, I won the tournament when I picked Eggs as my partner. I spent the entire weekend standing on the court watching Eggs hit the ball back and forth. I basically had a front row seat to watch Eggs play tennis and got a trophy out of the deal.

The sport Eggs truly loved was basketball. He was a very good basketball official and officiated all kinds of games in Central Oregon from youth, to middle school, to high school to adult. Eggs truly loved the job and took it very seriously. All of the players and coaches that had him as an official appreciated his work ethic. Eggs really enjoyed conducting basketball clinics for the kids. And was not only a great official and clinician, he could play the game too. His jump shot was like his golf swing, smooth and effortless. We played on the same adult basketball team. Eggs shot the three point shot as though it was a layin, pouring them in from all corners of the Pilot Butte gymnasium. When Eggs would get on a real roll, I could remember players from the opposing team yelling at each other saying “who is guarding that guy”, or mumbling “does that guy ever miss?

Eggs loved to go mountain biking. He would cover himself head to toe in dust spending hours riding up and down every inch of Phil’s Trial.
Eggs not only enjoyed participating in all kinds of sporting events in Bend, he enjoyed watching them too. Some of his favorite activities in the spring and summer were watching the Pole, Peddle, Paddle race and watching the Cascade Cycling Classic downtown evening race. He fed off of the crowds and excitement and marveled at the expertise and effort of the athletes.

Eggs was a big supporter of area high school basketball. He loved going to games at Mt View, Summit and Bend High School. He enjoyed being close to the action and he would find a seat right behind the team bench where he could evaluate his fellow officials, where he could hear the coaches strategize during timeouts and where he could see the faces of the kids and admire their passion and effort that they put forth.

One of Eggs’ favorite things to do in the winter would be to take Max over the mountain to Eugene to watch the Ducks play basketball. He was very fond of the old Mac Court where the Ducks played. Even though there were usually better tickets available, he would always pick some seats up in the rickety wood bleachers in the third balcony where he could take in the whole crazy atmosphere. Up there with the bird’s eye view, he could see the officials work the game, hear the band play, see the players run base line to base line, and hear and feel the roar of the crowd after a Duck basket. There was also room up there in the third balcony where Eggs enjoyed watching Max jump and down and imitate the cheers and chants of the student section in the Pit Crew below.

So as you can see Jason truly lived every day of his life. And although cancer killed his body, it will never kill his spirit. I have so many happy memories of Eggs. Those thoughts will live with me forever. I will miss my friend. His loss can seem devastating and unimaginable and unbearable. There is no explanation for it and no understanding. It is so easy to mourn his death and raise your arms up in the air and yell why! Why was this 41 year old loving husband, father of two , and overall sweet guy taken from us? But let’s rejoice in the fact that his pain and suffering are over and he is now in a better place.

I shared the stories above because I want everyone to know that Jason loved life. He didn’t sit back and watch it fly by. He lived it. Even when cancer was attacking his body, he didn’t sit back and let it define him, he fought like a brave and courageous warrior to beat it. So the challenge to us all is not to mourn Jason’s death but to learn from his life. Let’s honor Eggs by following in his footsteps, by living life to the fullest. Let’s be like Jason, go snow boarding, go play golf, go fishing, go mountain biking, go play tennis, go play basketball, support our community, love your family. Appreciate your time here on earth. Your life is happening right now and this is the only moment you can control. This is the only minute that really matters. Don’t let it pass you by. BE ACTIVE, BE LOVING.
BE LIKE EGGS!