A Message from Jessica
Brian Hatton December 30, 1974 – April 1, 2007
There were so many things I wanted to say at Brian’s service, but I know that it would not have been audible, so I’d like to say them now. It has been very difficult for me to get my thoughts together, so please bear with me.
When I first met Brian it was mid-January ’98. I had just moved to GA and started working at Sidelines. It was the first bar environment I had working in. While I was training I was warned that Brian could be a jerk sometimes, but not to take it personally. He had no patience for airheaded servers who didn’t know what they were doing. My first impressions of him were that he was a complete jerk in serious need of a haircut. My first day at work he chased me out of the kitchen yelling at me because I had forgotten the honey mustard for the chicken fingers I was serving. Anyway, as time went on, we hung out more and I started to notice that jerk wasn’t so bad after all. One night I had picked up a shift on my day off. My sister Hollie was nine months pregnant and I wanted to be there for the birth so badly. At about 9 that night Hollie called and said I had better get to the hospital- she was ready to have the baby. I went to my manager and she said I had plenty of time before the baby came and she would not let me leave. I called the hospital around midnight and found out I had just missed it. The baby had come. I burst into tears. I was brokenhearted. Brian saw me crying and he came over gave me a big hug and told me everything would be ok. He even helped me roll silverware and do my side-work so I could get to the hospital sooner. That was February 20, 1998. From that date up until September 30, 2006 Brian Hatton was there for me with a hug and encouraging words every single time I needed him to be. I grew to depend on the comfort and security. I always felt safe with Brian. I knew, if he could help it, he would never let anything bad happen to me. And if he couldn’t help it, he would be there with me until the end.
When we first started dating we were so in-love. People would actually tell me how jealous they were of us because it was obvious what we had. He showed me so many things I’ve never seen before and we were always doing fun things. I’ve never loved or been loved by anyone like that before. We just had something special. This connection, like I’d known him all my lives before this one. We had the same sense of humor and it was refreshing to find someone who was just as sarcastic as me. He knew everything about me, and he loved me anyway. For those of you who know me, you know how difficult that must have been.
He had the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever known. He was always helping people move, paint, build something- you name it. Always. He never hesitated to help someone. He was a friend to most he met. I am proud to say that Brian was my friend. I’m sure dozens of people feel the same way. We hardly went anywhere that he didn’t run into someone he knew. He knew practically everyone. His personality was larger than life. He was loud and very animated when telling a story- and he had a story for everything. He was the master at foosball, video games, and movie quotes, just to name a few. Shortly after the accident I was talking to a friend who said “Brian always left an impression.” That is so true. He really did. Maybe not always a good impression, but an impression none the less. People remembered him for who he was.
When Olivia came into our lives, we both fell head-over-heals in-love with her. She was (and still is) a perfect combination of the two of us. She figured out how to wrap him around her finger the first time he held her. We had some problems after the new baby came. I don’t want to get into that here and now, but I eventually realized Brian was not ready for a family. As wonderful as he was, he could be a big fat pain in the ass too. In fact, the biggest I ever had the pleasure of knowing. He always knew which buttons to push and how to set me off. Sometimes he did it on purpose, but most of the time he was just being him. If you ever made the mistake of telling him your foot was asleep and then having him pull you along or poke you in the sleeping limb, you know just what I’m talking about.
Through it all we remained Best Friends. We were a team. Olivia knew her parents loved and respected each other without question. We spent holidays together and weekends at the pool- went to the zoo and the movies together. We were a family. I can’t say for sure if we would have ever gotten back together, but I can say it crossed my mind several times over the years. I often wondered why neither one of us ever got into a serious relationship in the 5 years we were apart. Maybe we were just waiting until the time was right. Until he grew up a bit and I loosened up a bit. I do know we thought we had all the time in the world. Come to find out, we didn’t.
I have one true regret in my life. And that is that I waited until after his accident to tell Brian how much he meant to me and how much I love him. I know he knew I love him, but not how much. I don’t even think I knew until all this happened. I’m grateful we had that time with him after he woke up from his coma when he was so responsive. I hate that he had to go through all of that, but, I’m glad he got to see how many people love him and wanted him to pull through.
I will never understand why, when talking about someone who as passed away, people will always say “I loved him” in the past tense. I still love Brian. I will love him until the day I die. My love for him did not die with him. If anything, it grew stronger. I have never felt pain the way I have over the past 6 months. I didn’t know someone could feel such emotional pain on the inside. It is pure torture to watch someone you love suffer. Especially when you know there is nothing you can do to help them. I can only imagine how terrible the whole experience must have been for Brian. I know that he is in a better place now. He is comfortable and happy again. I take comfort in knowing Olivia and I have our own very special guardian angel looking out for us. He won’t let anything bad happen to his girls. Not if he can help it.
It doesn’t seem fair that Olivia will only have a 6 year olds memories of her daddy. He really was a great daddy. Maybe not always the most responsible, but he was a great daddy. He loved her so much you could see it in his face every single time he looked at her. He had so much patience and a way of explaining things to her that made her understand everything. He taught her so much and took the time to stop and show her even the little things. He was so proud of his little girl. I will always remind Olivia of how great her dad was and how much he loved her. She will always remember her daddy as the biggest, strongest, funniest, smartest man in the whole world. I will always treasure the greatest gift he ever gave me- Olivia. He loved her so much that he held on so he could see her one last time to say good-bye to his baby girl. She had a wonderful last visit with him and I could tell he was really at peace. He looked comfortable and relaxed for the first time in almost 6 months.
I’d like to once again thank everyone for all your prayers and support over the months. It has been wonderful to know that there are so many people out there praying for our family. Some of whom I’ve never even met. Thank you. I’d especially like to thank Jamie and Greg Corona. I love you both so much. Thank you for being by my side through everything. I honestly can’t imagine where I’d be right now if it weren’t for you two. Thank you for being there for Brian- visiting him at the hospital and letting him know you were by his side all the way. Thank you for all your help with Olivia and being so good to her. She really loves you both so much too. Greg, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you spending time with her and giving her a male influence- teaching her how to ride her bike without training wheels and just hanging out doing things she and Brian used to do together. Jamie, she adores you- thank you for being her “sister” and for being such a good friend to me. I know it helped Brian to know that Olivia and I won’t ever be alone. We are so very blessed with so many great friends and family.
Please, always remember how Brian touched your lives and how fortunate we all were to have had him in our lives- even for the short time we had him.
Thank you,
Jessica
There were so many things I wanted to say at Brian’s service, but I know that it would not have been audible, so I’d like to say them now. It has been very difficult for me to get my thoughts together, so please bear with me.
When I first met Brian it was mid-January ’98. I had just moved to GA and started working at Sidelines. It was the first bar environment I had working in. While I was training I was warned that Brian could be a jerk sometimes, but not to take it personally. He had no patience for airheaded servers who didn’t know what they were doing. My first impressions of him were that he was a complete jerk in serious need of a haircut. My first day at work he chased me out of the kitchen yelling at me because I had forgotten the honey mustard for the chicken fingers I was serving. Anyway, as time went on, we hung out more and I started to notice that jerk wasn’t so bad after all. One night I had picked up a shift on my day off. My sister Hollie was nine months pregnant and I wanted to be there for the birth so badly. At about 9 that night Hollie called and said I had better get to the hospital- she was ready to have the baby. I went to my manager and she said I had plenty of time before the baby came and she would not let me leave. I called the hospital around midnight and found out I had just missed it. The baby had come. I burst into tears. I was brokenhearted. Brian saw me crying and he came over gave me a big hug and told me everything would be ok. He even helped me roll silverware and do my side-work so I could get to the hospital sooner. That was February 20, 1998. From that date up until September 30, 2006 Brian Hatton was there for me with a hug and encouraging words every single time I needed him to be. I grew to depend on the comfort and security. I always felt safe with Brian. I knew, if he could help it, he would never let anything bad happen to me. And if he couldn’t help it, he would be there with me until the end.
When we first started dating we were so in-love. People would actually tell me how jealous they were of us because it was obvious what we had. He showed me so many things I’ve never seen before and we were always doing fun things. I’ve never loved or been loved by anyone like that before. We just had something special. This connection, like I’d known him all my lives before this one. We had the same sense of humor and it was refreshing to find someone who was just as sarcastic as me. He knew everything about me, and he loved me anyway. For those of you who know me, you know how difficult that must have been.
He had the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever known. He was always helping people move, paint, build something- you name it. Always. He never hesitated to help someone. He was a friend to most he met. I am proud to say that Brian was my friend. I’m sure dozens of people feel the same way. We hardly went anywhere that he didn’t run into someone he knew. He knew practically everyone. His personality was larger than life. He was loud and very animated when telling a story- and he had a story for everything. He was the master at foosball, video games, and movie quotes, just to name a few. Shortly after the accident I was talking to a friend who said “Brian always left an impression.” That is so true. He really did. Maybe not always a good impression, but an impression none the less. People remembered him for who he was.
When Olivia came into our lives, we both fell head-over-heals in-love with her. She was (and still is) a perfect combination of the two of us. She figured out how to wrap him around her finger the first time he held her. We had some problems after the new baby came. I don’t want to get into that here and now, but I eventually realized Brian was not ready for a family. As wonderful as he was, he could be a big fat pain in the ass too. In fact, the biggest I ever had the pleasure of knowing. He always knew which buttons to push and how to set me off. Sometimes he did it on purpose, but most of the time he was just being him. If you ever made the mistake of telling him your foot was asleep and then having him pull you along or poke you in the sleeping limb, you know just what I’m talking about.
Through it all we remained Best Friends. We were a team. Olivia knew her parents loved and respected each other without question. We spent holidays together and weekends at the pool- went to the zoo and the movies together. We were a family. I can’t say for sure if we would have ever gotten back together, but I can say it crossed my mind several times over the years. I often wondered why neither one of us ever got into a serious relationship in the 5 years we were apart. Maybe we were just waiting until the time was right. Until he grew up a bit and I loosened up a bit. I do know we thought we had all the time in the world. Come to find out, we didn’t.
I have one true regret in my life. And that is that I waited until after his accident to tell Brian how much he meant to me and how much I love him. I know he knew I love him, but not how much. I don’t even think I knew until all this happened. I’m grateful we had that time with him after he woke up from his coma when he was so responsive. I hate that he had to go through all of that, but, I’m glad he got to see how many people love him and wanted him to pull through.
I will never understand why, when talking about someone who as passed away, people will always say “I loved him” in the past tense. I still love Brian. I will love him until the day I die. My love for him did not die with him. If anything, it grew stronger. I have never felt pain the way I have over the past 6 months. I didn’t know someone could feel such emotional pain on the inside. It is pure torture to watch someone you love suffer. Especially when you know there is nothing you can do to help them. I can only imagine how terrible the whole experience must have been for Brian. I know that he is in a better place now. He is comfortable and happy again. I take comfort in knowing Olivia and I have our own very special guardian angel looking out for us. He won’t let anything bad happen to his girls. Not if he can help it.
It doesn’t seem fair that Olivia will only have a 6 year olds memories of her daddy. He really was a great daddy. Maybe not always the most responsible, but he was a great daddy. He loved her so much you could see it in his face every single time he looked at her. He had so much patience and a way of explaining things to her that made her understand everything. He taught her so much and took the time to stop and show her even the little things. He was so proud of his little girl. I will always remind Olivia of how great her dad was and how much he loved her. She will always remember her daddy as the biggest, strongest, funniest, smartest man in the whole world. I will always treasure the greatest gift he ever gave me- Olivia. He loved her so much that he held on so he could see her one last time to say good-bye to his baby girl. She had a wonderful last visit with him and I could tell he was really at peace. He looked comfortable and relaxed for the first time in almost 6 months.
I’d like to once again thank everyone for all your prayers and support over the months. It has been wonderful to know that there are so many people out there praying for our family. Some of whom I’ve never even met. Thank you. I’d especially like to thank Jamie and Greg Corona. I love you both so much. Thank you for being by my side through everything. I honestly can’t imagine where I’d be right now if it weren’t for you two. Thank you for being there for Brian- visiting him at the hospital and letting him know you were by his side all the way. Thank you for all your help with Olivia and being so good to her. She really loves you both so much too. Greg, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you spending time with her and giving her a male influence- teaching her how to ride her bike without training wheels and just hanging out doing things she and Brian used to do together. Jamie, she adores you- thank you for being her “sister” and for being such a good friend to me. I know it helped Brian to know that Olivia and I won’t ever be alone. We are so very blessed with so many great friends and family.
Please, always remember how Brian touched your lives and how fortunate we all were to have had him in our lives- even for the short time we had him.
Thank you,
Jessica
posted by Jamie at 6:01 PM
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