Teresa  #6

 

  • Teresa Boyle Ringwood - December 18, 1958

  • William John Hoercher - Married September 25, 1982

  • Emily Hannah Hoercher - Born June 26, 1984

    • Max Hitchcock - Married August 13, 2011

    • Zoe Harper Hitchcock - Born March 30, 2014

    • Ruby Kate Hitchcock - Born November 28, 2017

    • Madeline Carly Hitchcock - Born November 28, 2017

  • Margaret Mary Hoercher - Born June 9, 1989

    • Patrick Doss - Married March 4, 2017

  • Kevin William Hoercher - Born January 4, 1991

    • Ali McMurtrie - Married November 2, 2019

 

THE SUN STILL RISES

Teresa.  It's hard to think of Teresa as a little girl.  She was awfully afraid of things. She cried easily.  There was a picture in a magazine that she couldn't look at.  She would cry and cry and cry. I think the picture was a painting of maybe Paris.  It was all in dark colors and she couldn't look at it.

She was a good baby.  She was born at Christmastime.  We brought her home and we had the tree and we had a wonderful holiday.  She was mother's girl. She liked to be close to me and didn’t like me to go away.  Often times I would go with my husband on business trips overnight and we'd have a woman come in and stay with the children.  Often Teresa would not speak to me when I cam home. She'd pretend she didn't’ know me.

-Mom / 2005

CHASE YOUR RAINBOW - Andrew Hoercher

ANDREW

  1. Andrew Ringwood Hoercher - Born July 2, 1987

ANDREW’S WEDDING TOAST TO BROTHER KEVIN

For those of you who don't know me, I'm Kevin's older brother Andrew.  His very funny, wise, and good looking older brother I might add.  Before I get started, I feel that I should mention when I do stuff like this, it's the strangest thing, but I tend to get a lot of dust or something in my eyes.  So it might appear like I'm getting emotional and my voice might even crack, but I can assure you it's just the dust or whatever it is.  Pretty sure the same thing happened to my dad last night.

Anyway, Kevin was the best-man at my wedding a couple years ago and he gave such an amazing speech.  Literally something that I will cherish for the rest of my life.  All I could think about when preparing for this was how badly I wanted to do the same for him.  It finally dawned on me, what better way to achieve that by taking his speech and swapping every Andrew for Kevin.  So let's begin...Kevin is just so cool and really such an awesome older (I mean younger) brother...  All jokes aside, it truly was incredible and so many people came up to me afterwards to tell me how impressed they were with my little brother.  But they also expressed some surprise.  Maybe they've never heard Kevin speak that much at one time, but I wasn't surprised.  I'm never surprised by Kevin.

Kevin is the youngest of four siblings.  In order it goes Emily the break dancer - who is crazy.  Me - normal and cool.  Maggie (show everyone your broken finger) - crazy and then Kevin - normal and cool.  However, it has been said that I can talk a bit so when you mix in two crazy sisters, there wasn't a ton of opportunity for Kevin to talk.  In many ways being the youngest of that Motley Crew shapped Kevin to become the man that he is today, but I think it also created some misconceptions about him growing up - that he was shy, not social, or withdrawn.  Maybe some of that was true at times, but I was never concerned about Kevin. My mom used to pull me aside and tell me how she was worried about him - because she hadn't heard him speak for a week or he wasn't hanging out with his friends as much lately - whatever it was, my response was always the same - he's good mom, you don't have to worry about him.  You need to worry about your crazy daughters.

I'm not sure if there's some brother connection involved, but I feel like I've always had a good understanding of Kevin.  For example, I know that he doesn't want to be embarrassed right now, so I'm not going to tell stories about how he ran around like a cheata as a kid or when he threw a chair at us just because we convinced him, since he didn't have blond hair like us, that he was adopted.  I won't do that, but thinking through the lifetime of our memories I was searching for that moment or moments that really stood out to me.

We used to go to Maine almost every summer growing up.  We had what seemed like endless forests, beaches, water, and even a legit castle to explore - it was perfect.  It must have been one of the first times we went because I remember Kevin being this little cute chunky thing that just sat and chilled at the beach.  That is my only memory of him on that vacation.  When we got back home, we were sitting at the dinner table discussing our favorite parts of the trip and Kevin goes into this elaborate story about hanging out with the turtles and talking to the King of the ocean. I think he fought and won a few battles with him too.  No joke, if we wrote this story down I guarantee we could sell the script to Disney or Pixar.  But I remember thinking at the time - damn, Kevin didn't move an inch on the beach and had a way better vacation than me.  

Another moment that stands out and a lot of you will be shocked, involves basketball.  I was obsessed with basketball, really up until I graduated college and finally admitted that I might not make it to the NBA.  I lived at the YMCA in high school and when my brother started following in my footsteps I was pumped.  He could do it all - score, dribble, defend and I will for sure deny this later, but he might have even been more athletic than me.  So with that I was going to mold him into an NBA player and when my NBA team drafted him we would be the first brother backcourt to average 30 points per game each.  So we were at the Y one day and I was putting him through one of my crazy workouts.  We finished all the drills and the last thing was to make 10 free throws in a row before you could leave the gym.  Literally one of the only times I've seen Kevin mad, he finally had enough and told me he off.  He didn't love basketball the same way I did.

I know those stories seem super random - his best man speech to a chunky toddler on the beach to a kid getting yelled at on a basketball court - but to me they tell a lot about Kevin. He has this quiet confidence that you can almost feel when your around him.  He doesn't need people around him because he can tap his creative side and get lost in his mind - whether it's stories of the ocean or coding brain algorithms. He doesn't need to practice basketball for 10 hours because he can just show up and dunk on you. That alone draws people to him.  But when he lets you in, you realize not only his obvious intelligence but his thoughtful kindness.  Someone who would go through hell on a basketball court not because he wanted to at all, but for someone he loves.  When I asked him why he went through so many of those workouts with me, he said he just wanted to hang out with me.  He listens and absorbs the world in such a beautiful way that it inspires the people around him.  I know I'm older (and maybe even a little shorter) but I've looked up to Kevin my entire life.  He's taught me more things than I could mention, but overall he's help me become a better, more patient, and thoughtful person.

When we were growing up, at the dinner table my parents would make each of us say something good, bad, and ugly that happened that day.  I never thought I would be reminded of that on Kevin's bachelor party.  But it was the last night and Kevin had one too many soda pops (so for example his bad of the day) and was in bed.  The rest of us ending up sitting around the table outside.  I think it was Stephen said that we should go around and say our best, worst, and weirdest moments on the trip.  My dad and I laughed at each other remembering all of those dinners at 7 Alden Ave.  But it was a really cool moment - I was so proud of my brother listening to everyone's words and so happy that he's found so many people that love and understand him like his family does.  And no one exemplifies that more than Ali.

When I first met Ali I thought that she was a fantastic actress because there is no way someone is actually that nice.  I understood though, meeting the family for the first time and everything.  But I was wrong, she has been that same kind loving person that I met so many years ago.  You have not only made Kevin a better, happier person, but you have touched everyone in our family and we are thrilled that you officially joined it today.  I love you and I am so proud to call you my sister.  And I finally have a sister who is not crazy!

I want to thank Alison and Michael for not only this amazing event, but raising such a beautiful person.  It has been a pleasure getting to know you and your family.  I would like to thank my parents Teresa and Bill for everything they have done and for being such incredible role models for us. And lastly I want to thank Colgate - for bringing these two together.

Kevin and Ali, your love is so obvious and pure I don't feel the need to provide any advice.  But I will - continue to communicate and be honest with each other and there is nothing you two cannot accomplish.  I cannot wait to see you two travel and conquer the world, together holding hands and smiling. You are amazing siblings, friends, children, aunts and uncles, everything - and I have no doubt you will be an amazing wife and an amazing husband.  I love you guys so much and want to thank you for finding each other and making tonight possible.

I am so honored to be standing here today, if you will all join me in raising a glass and toasting this amazing and inspiring team.  Love you guys. 

-ARH 11/19

Andrew & Steph … and then came Chase!