In Memory of Benjamin J. Hawkins.

One year ago today, at 5:30pm on March 30th, Benjamin J. Hawkins passed away in a freak accident.

From the Newberg Graphic article released a few days after:

Hawkins and his wife, Rachel, both of Newberg, were traveling east on Bell Road around 5 p.m. Sunday, officials said. The road was covered with about one inch of ice and hail and, while coming over a rise in the road, Hawkins lost control of his vehicle and slid off an embankment...The 2001 Hyundai crashed into a tree on the property of Kevin and Nancy Kinney, between Wilkerson Way and Zimri Drive. Ben and Rachel Hawkins were not injured in the crash and got out of the vehicle. They were standing in the ditch, assessing the damage, when a second vehicle came over the rise, similarly lost control and traveled into the ditch, striking Ben Hawkins.

Kevin Kinney, a Newberg attorney, said he was downstairs in his house when he heard his wife "screaming to call 9-1-1." After placing the call, he filled his car with blankets and drove to meet her at the end of their long driveway. "I saw the two cars ... and somewhere in between the two there was a man laying on the ground and a woman screaming hysterically, `Help him, help him, help him,'" he said. Although "it had been awhile" since his CPR training, he dropped to the ground and began attempting to resuscitate Hawkins until the paramedics arrived...Although "his chest was going up and down" in response to the CPR, Kinney said, Hawkins "had a huge gash on his head (and) was never responsive physically." Kinney said paramedics were able to find a pulse and moved Hawkins into an ambulance, but "never drove off." Paramedics pronounced Hawkins dead at the scene.

One year later, it still hurts just as much as it did the day I found out.

Our hearts are heavy and light.
We laugh and scream and sing.
Our hearts are heavy and light.

One year later, our hearts show scars that will never fade.

One year later, his legacy still inspires us.

In Loving Memory of Benjamin Jay Hawkins
March 3rd, 1982 - March 30th, 2008