December 1, 2023

Family and Friends,

Thank you for the many kindnesses during this most unimaginable time for our family. As you can imagine, our hearts are shattered into a million pieces. The past two weeks have been a complete blur, yet have been some of the longest and darkest days of our lives. We miss Anderson with a visceral pain in our bones as every aspect of our world is wrapped around his memory.  He is woven into the every fabric of our lives. He was our HOME -  "a place where one lives" and our hearts live within him. It's like the worst homesickness we've ever felt because there is so much love and therefore there is also so much pain. So, we try to be grateful. We try to remember. We try just to be. Even if I had known he would be taken too soon from us, I wouldn't change a thing about our life together. I am so grateful for the gift of our precious boys. Everyday I am reminded of their father's warm smile and huge heart. I have noticed Anderson's composure in Jackson, his compassion in Kingston and his groundedness in Ryder. I know they will continue to grow, learn and hopefully use Anderson as a moral compass to help guide them. 

I feel blessed to have shared the time I did with him, especially the love, friendship and family we created together. We were married for 22 years and we met the first day of freshman year at The University of Colorado, Boulder, 31 years ago as he lived in the dorm room directly below mine in Kittredge West.  Anderson taught me what unconditional love was; he was my best friend and I'm going to miss him more than words can express.

He could make anyone feel better about anything. He reminded us of what really mattered in life, to enjoy each day because tomorrow wasn't promised. He always knew just the right thing to say and he almost always had a solution to any predicament. I loved the way his mind worked. He truly appreciated so much about this life. He lived his 50 years on this planet with devotion, truth, grace and love. He was a unique and special human that made every single person he met feel important. This deep understanding of others was a gift. He inspired many and even went as far as helping others figure out what inspired them. He may have done so through his words, but also through his music. 

Anderson will be remembered for so many things including his beautiful and kind smile, the twinkle in his eyes, his devotion to his family and friends, his passion for playing bass with countless pals, coaching little league, his love of gardening, sports, tropical islands & tiki drinks, his sense of humor and incredible wit. His love for his mother, sister, nieces and nephew. It goes without saying that our dear Anderson was a bit of a rarity. He will be always remembered as a unique and generous soul. He was an incredibly talented bass player and truly shone while playing music with his band and best mates in Dark & Stormy. He also enjoyed playing occasionally with admired new friends in Archer Monk. He was an avid skier and loved his time in the mountains of Colorado and Tahoe over the years. He loved to sail and be on the water, spending many summers of his youth in Wrightsville Beach on the beautiful North Carolina Coast. He kept an incredible bond with his friends from Charlotte and Boulder and cherished his connection to them. He spent many family vacations scuba diving and snorkeling and could often be found far out from shore, only appearing as a tiny speck enjoying the water, looking for beautiful treasures from the sea. He was a lover of nature and greatly adored his time on Mt.Tamalpais often spotting hawks and knowing they were a sign from his late brother Chris. He would often be found on hikes and beach walks picking up trash and concerned about what kind of planet we were leaving to our collective children. He was a dedicated environmentalist in every sense of the word and he refused to buy plastic of any kind. He was pure goodness.

Aside from Anderson's many gifts to us all, he was a great teacher. He knew so much, about so much. He was somewhat of human encyclopedia with knowledge ranging from music to cars, spirituality to sports. The rolodex of information in his mind was breathtaking. He loved teaching the boys and their friends about collecting vinyl. He loved to tinker in his music studio changing pick ups and guitar strings. He was always the best DJ on any occasion, as his playlists are meticulously curated. He loved to take naps in his favorite leather chair watching The Masters with his faithful dog JJ at his feet. He loved the way Augusta looked in the Spring. 

Some lesser known facts about Anderson: his favorite painting was Kindred Spirits, by Asher Brown Durand. His favorite color was Blue. His favorite book was Empire of the Summer Moon by, S.C. Gwynne. His opinion of the scariest movie on the planet was JFK. His favorite TV show was Seinfeld. His favorite Sportscaster was Jon Miller. Some greater known facts about Anderson: some of his favorite musicians were The Grateful Dead, Widespread Panic, Wilco, The Band, Little Feat, The Meters, My Morning Jacket & Greensky Bluegrass. His favorite football team was The 'Skins (he refused to call them Washington Football Team or The Commanders). He also loved the Buffs, Tar Heels, SF Giants and the Warriors. He will simply be so greatly missed. There is no doubt that the world is less bright without him in it.

The most important thing for us to do now is to honor his life by trying to carry forward his values. Thank you for your friendship and your all of your kindnesses: the cards, the texts, the emails, the nourishment, the flowers - all the thoughts. Thank you. 

Friends have set up an email address [email protected] for us to share memories, stories and general all around "Page Love". Your letters/notes will be printed into a book for our boys, in time. I'd like for them to be able to look back when they miss Anderson and read about what he meant to others.

A Celebration of Life will be held on December 12, 2023 at 11:00 am at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 3 Bayview Avenue, Belvedere CA. A reception following the service will be held at Bungalow Kitchen, 5 Main Street, Tiburon CA in the upstairs Sunroom.

There will also be a service for the family on December 27, 2023 at Christ Episcopal Church in Charlotte, NC, with a gathering for family and friends to follow. Details will be forthcoming here on PostHope.

Thank you for loving Anderson as much as we do. We know your hearts are broken with us. His light, his love, his positive spirit - may we all try to be a bit more like him in our everyday. 

Laura, Jackson, Kingston & Ryder  xx