JCK Remembered

Saturday's itinerary was all Tim's idea. We had all learned several weeks ago that Deerfield Academy would be dedicating the Varsity Girl's soccer playing field to beloved alum, teacher and coach Jamie Kapteyn - Tim's uncle and Amy's brother - who had died unexpectedly and inexplicably in January, leaving a huge whole in many hearts and lives.


Tim knew that he wanted to attend that event, and take care of another loose end while we were "on the road." You see, back on July 17 a quiet family ceremony took place alongside the Alford Brook in Great Barrington. Jamie's ashes were scattered on to the flowing waters that he had played in as a boy with his best friend Adam. Tim, as you may recall, was not available to attend that ceremony, and I chose to stay with him at BMC with a promise to each other that we would keep our own portion of the ashes to scatter when the time was right. That time came this weekend.


So, we had an early riser morning and took off for Deerfield around 7:30. A quick bathroom break in Ludlow serendipitously found us parked next to Max, Tim's contact at UTI. We know that he's been paying attention as he teased Tim about hanging around with the Governor. It was great for all of us to catch up with him. We arrived and joined Jancy, Lou, Russ, Peter, Sarah and Tessa for a beautiful dedication ceremony featuring words from colleagues, friends and players.

Afterwards we spent a lot of time catching up with Kirsten, Ingrid and Ilse as well as others who attended. It was a beautiful fall day in a beautiful setting and we easily shared tears and laughs. After watching parts of three games, we headed out to the Berkshires.
Arriving in town, Tim and I took a slow sight-seeing tour while Amy procured a lunch of Tim's favorite sub from Public Market. When we got to the house, Tim was able to take advantage of the brand new driveway and sidewalk to the front door, installed this week by Chris & Billy and their crews. As expected, a perfect job. Tim transfers in and out of the car more and more effortlessly as time goes on. More work will be going on inside of our house over the coming weeks so that he'll be able to have a comfortable home life. After sharing the love with old girl Sam and making a few practice runs around the first floor, we headed off to Great Barrington.


I chose to take the Alford Road route as it is one of the most beautiful drives anywhere (shhh, don't tell anyone). Amy had contacted Adam's mom Peggy, who of course welcomed us back to her property today and in the future, for directions to this special place. After Tim, Amy and I had our own remembrance, Peggy joined us for a few minutes. Then, Tim and I added our ashes and thoughts about Jamie to the current. Tim said that he knew that Jamie would have been in constant contact with him, and would have had just the right words to help him through. I gave Tim his first rod & reel, but I'm forever grateful to Jamie for teaching Tim what it can mean to fish.

James Cornelius Kapteyn

June 22, 1961

January 16, 2007