Jacob & Susan

I had the privilege of working with Jacob at Noah's Ark summer 2013 and 2014 in Buena Vista, Colorado. He quickly became one of my closest friends at Noah's. Jacob was always such a wonderful friend. He had a beautiful heart and a stellar sense of humor. He was curious, and interested, and a hilarious storyteller.  

Lots of seemingly random memories with Jacob have flooded my mind since the news of his passing. The first one that really made me laugh was remembering staff opener in 2013. The senior staff had arranged for us newbies to run around the grassy knoll by the Noah's pond wearing these awful, smelly orange marshmallow-type life vests. We were all given a list of anonymous unique facts about each of us first years and the object was to run around in these awful vests and correctly identify who belonged to which fact as quickly as possible. Some were easy to figure out, but one in particular stood out to me - something to the effect of "I once killed a baby bunny by accidentally sitting on it." I jokingly asked Jacob if that was him and he hilariously answered yes. We both died laughing and he later told me the story, ending I think with "I was chubbier as a child" to which we both died laughing again. 

We used to have deep talks on the river. Talks about Jesus teachings and our understanding of His ministry. One conversation turned to discussions of warfare throughout history. Having come from a long history of military families, Jacob asserting his status as a pacifist was a fascinating revelation to me. We talked about this from tight squeeze all the way to widow maker rapid. One day, I can't remember why now, we were hanging out in the coop and Jacob was baking something. At some point he said he didn't really think himself much of a cook, but that he could make a really good chicken carbonara, and he would usually make it for dates since it was relatively impressive. For whatever reason, since that day whenever I've made chicken carbonara, or any chicken pasta really, it's always made me think of Jacob. 

In fall 2013, we got to see each other in "real life" for what was then an annual Noah's trip to the Gauley River in WV, USA. It was the rainiest weekend I have ever experienced, and the river put in was closed shortly after our group put on that morning due to dangerously high flows. Jacob and I spent most of the day in the same boat and we ended up swimming some insane water at an insane level basically the whole day. Jacob always wore these striped leggings under his shorts during river training at Noah's. They were distinctly Jacob and you could spot them a mile away. He was wearing them on the Gauley River that morning as well. We dropped into sweets falls that day, Kelly Gillis on the stick, and while we didn't flip, Jacob got hit by a tremendous wave and it was as if the river grew arms, hugged him from behind, and pulled him right in; his striped legs flipping up over his head. It seemed like slow motion! After that swim, Jacob discreetly admitted to me that this really wasn't fun anymore. 

During first year river training on the Arkansas, we were rowing for the first time on Seidel's Suckhole. An incredible rapid below Hecla Junction where the saying goes, you either have flipped, will flip, or are flipping. Jacob was on the oars and I was in the boat ahead watching from the eddy below. Most of us had had relatively clean runs. Jacob's boat hit the haystack wave and we all thought his boat was going over. His boat went completely vertical and rocked up and down like a bucking bronco! Jacob managed to stay on the oars all the way til the wave finally spit his boat out upright. He genuinely looked like a rodeo star! Afterwards, he profusely apologized to Maggie who did fall out of the boat during the experience. He was always so thoughtful. 

During our 2nd year backpacking training trip, Jacob and I were in separate trekking groups but everyone met at the same camp site on night 2. Jacob had the pleasure of leading a llama the first two days of the trip. When his group finally arrived, he recounted hilarious stories of dealing with the llamas. He did not enjoy it. One story he told me was when his diva of a llama was crossing over a creek on a small foot bridge behind him when the bridge gave way below her feet. She directly dropped into the shallow creek, made an awful llama cry, and refused to move. He would tell the story much better than I am recounting it here, and he made me laugh so hard at the retelling. I remember having lots of little chats with Jacob during that multi-day backpacking trip, particularly at the top of the mountain, Mt. Shavano. One of my very favorite pictures of the two of us is on top of that mountain. 

At Noah's, I opted to go by "Burs" instead of Susan since there were two other Susans also working there. Jacob was the only one to always call me by my full last name Bursley. I sometimes called him Carter. I honestly never thought much of it until now and I'm so grateful for that little memory. 

One of the last times I was together with him in person was here in Buena Vista. I think the Carters were at their mountain home for Christmas and we ran into each other by surprise at the Surf Hotel. We promptly planned for coffee date the next morning where we got to sit together chatting and catching up. So much of that conversation revolved around the people and places in his life at the time, his passion for his work with asylees. We hugged goodbye after nearly three hours together; Jacob always gave great hugs. 

One of the last times we had gotten to chat was in the weeks leading up to his wedding to Daniel. I sadly had to miss the big day but made sure he knew we were raising a glass in celebration from afar. The details of Jacob are the things most on my mind these days. His laugh. His storytelling. His backwards hat. His walk. His voice. His authenticity. His ease. 

Jacob genuinely loved people. He remains one of my very favorite people and friends. There are so many incredible things to learn from his life, like be the light, show compassion, there's room for EVERYONE at the table, tell a good story, love.

Our guide class came together in a group text once the news broke of Jacob's death. The overwhelming consensus from everyone was that Jacob was the very best of us. We will forever remember him and miss him. I will forever be inspired by him and cherish the memories we made. 

Love you, Jacob.