“I wish I could have kept him safe,” Janice East said, displaying the anguish of a mother. Similarly introspective Bob East admitted, “When you look back now you see things and wish you would have done things differently. I would be mad, and Janice would console. I would think how can you have worked up from quarter midgets, win in everything you got in and then just basically throw it away? I just did not have the compassion for that. I wish I would have told him I loved him more.”
One can understand his father‘s feeling. But make no mistake about it — the love was there.
“We spent so much time together as a family and he and I together,” Bob East said. “I can never forget kneeling on one knee in a quarter midget race and putting his visor up. It is unlike any other sport because it was just me and him eye to eye.”
These memories that will sustain the family now. Bob East admitted he still talks to his son at times. That‘s understandable. There is also a constant reminder of his son‘s presence. A family friend gave the Easts a memory wind chime. Every time it rings Bob simply says, “How are you doing buddy?”