Cale M. Crowe
What do you remember about Cale? Share your stories and photos here, and invite others to come share their memories.
Our larger-than-life "Ponky" has gone to find his own adventures far away from the constraints that challenged him. He found his strength and happiness from the community who welcomed and loved him unconditionally. A community consistently providing him the joy that made his life fulfilled. He built himself a trapline far and wide to help capture all those he wished to engage with, people who shared his values of joy, belief, happiness and good, and he checked it daily. He knew your name, what you did, and he built something individual and special with all his friends. When you joined his tribe, he held your hand and led a conversation about what bonded you. Cale was a diplomat of hope and traded in the currency of innocence that left each of us richer with a better understanding of strongly valuing the present moment.
Cale enjoyed the seasons each year offered, but his calendar was moved more by the holidays it promised. Winter was for joyriding in an airplane to find somewhere familiar and warm where sand could squish through his toes and a seashell could be found in a not so deep part of the ocean. His anticipation of the spring was not so much for longer and warmer days but rather for the arrival of the Easter Bunny and the excitement his furry friend always delivered. As soon as the last egg was found, Cale was on to summer and the business at hand of building his firework stand and all the planning involved in the "Big Show." He was happy to walk you around the display and tell you all the magic he had collected but keep your money in your pocket because nothing was for sale.
It was always a quick transition to birthday season with only a few days to prepare for his big day. Everyone was welcome to his birthday party and every new timer got to experience him "eye-frisking" them to make sure they were packing something for him to unwrap. To him, it was about your presence not the present that mattered most. The first day of school was next up and he would begin each conversation through the end of July and on into August with a mischievous grin, and a "no start school." Cale celebrated Halloween with a love/hate relationship. He was all about sharing the treats and seeing the costumes but no "scary parts" please. Ponk made sure he topped his tank off heading into November for the fifty-five day run-up to Christmas. You see, he and the big bushy bearded man were best buddies, and it was Cale's job to make sure everyone was just as ready as those two were to spread the holiday cheer. His excitement was magical, and certainly came from only a place true believers know. As Cale saw it, every white-bearded man was Santa, each red light positioned higher than roof top level was Rudolph and every moving object in the sky after the sun went down was Santa's sleigh, Ruby. Christmas with Cale and the traditional visit by Santa to the house was cherished by his entire family. He constantly reminded all of us to remember the child-like qualities not so deep inside which brought us so much innocence and joy in the moment.
Cale is survived by his entire community and the people who enriched his life, who taught him new things, shared what they had and spent the time filling his world with what made him happy. He was blessed with an unlimited supply of caring and committed educators dedicated to teaching him the skills he needed to navigate his life. A network of selfless professional emergency responders who took time each day to spend special moments and share their lives with him. An incredibly talented team of medical professionals always available and ready to take on extraordinary challenges and perform miracles resulting in stolen time to be shared by all. Beyond these heroes, Cale's friends are heavily sprinkled across his community in special places only known to them.
Please plan to join us as we hold one last Assembly in his honor at the Jim Darcy Elementary School on November 22nd, at 4:00 pm with a reception to follow. Memorials are suggested to the Montana Hope Project, P.O. Box 5927, Helena, MT 59604. Please visit www.aswfuneralhome.com to offer a condolence to the family or to share a memory of Cale.