Oh man, oh man...
Leif was one of my brother Thalo's earliest playmates. Dad and Chuck were both in the same boat as far as being single dads in Lincoln City, and so we kind of all fell together as refugees of a sort. I know Dad and Chuck leaned on each other for support a lot in those times, and that meant we saw a lot of Leif and Lars (Lance was still a baby), either at their place or ours. So my memories of Leif are mainly of this little butter-headed, high energy whirlwind of five-year-old positivity tearing through the house with Thalo. Because I am about eight years their senior, I moved off to college and the East Coast, and didn't really see him again until 1996 or so in Salem, when I came back to visit one Christmas. That positive vibe was still right there though, and I don't remember exactly what we said to each other (I'm sure it was nothing all that consequential), but I distinctly remember that positive Leif-energy radiating off him like a beam. That was the last time I ever spoke to him, but Dad or Chuck or Lars would occasionally fill me in, and what a good man he became! Thinking back on how he was as a little kid, I realize there was just no way that he would ever grow to be anything less.