[Photo credit: Shaun Heffernan]
Selfishly speaking, I loved “Michaela Armstrong Day” when Tim and I shared adventures. He would ask me what I wanted to do (even if he didn’t want to do it) and we would be off.
Sometimes we stayed in the North Country, like the time we went hiking at High Falls Gorge. We had a great time even if I wasn’t a fast climber any more. Everything seemed funny to us! Tim mugged for a bunch of photos next to signs saying “Beware of falling rocks!” We decided I would place the photo in my kindergarten classroom in the fall. I loved his adventuresome spirit! He loved the outdoors.
High Falls Gorge was an unexpected road trip! Even more unexpected was the time he took me to Canada. We went to a cheese shop and Tim selected just the right cheese for many of his friends. Tim came prepared with a cooler because we weren’t leaving right away. He had purchased tickets to a comedy club. We also had to stop at a bakery to buy Kim and Nicole a sugar pie. Tim was a generous soul and it brought him great pleasure to surprise his friends with treats. He had this thing about Life cereal and always claimed that the Canadians knew how to make it right and that Life cereal made in the United States paled in comparison.
One time when our family was vacationing in Maine we decided to go to Freeport, home of LL Bean. We shopped, ate lunch and went to Ben & Jerry’s three different times throughout the day. The Hartnetts have ice cream in our DNA. It is all Dad’s fault! Tim and I did the same thing in Lake Placid on one of our excursions. Shopping, eating at the Cottage and going to B&J’s.
Our last time to enjoy one-on-one time together was going to a David Bromberg concert in Lake Placid. We were outside in the third row by Mirror Lake. It was a special night. We ate dinner across the street and then went to Stewart’s for ice cream.
I miss him dearly.
Michaela Armstrong
Keeping Tim Hartnett 