Yesterday was Blake Hubbard’s Birthday. He would have turned 15. Last night we joined hundreds of friends and family members to celebrate Blake at a reception in his honor. You see, on January 28, 2012 Blake Hubbard died tragically after falling from an electrical tower in Durham. He’d been out with his friends, enjoying the sunny afternoon and flying paper airplanes from the tall structure. A week after the accident MacKenzie and I were contacted by Chip Denton, the headmaster at Trinity School, where Blake had been a freshman. He said he wanted to talk to us about a project. When we met him at Trinity School soon thereafter, we were introduced to Rick and Sonya Hove, close friends of the Hubbard family. They wanted us to create a memorial film for Blake, to be used as a tool for healing and as a means of honoring this incredibly quirky and widely-adored kid. Rather than try to explain who Blake Hubbard was through this post, we hope you’ll watch this memorial film, which features Blake’s family and friends talking about the many and colorful facets of this extraordinary young man. Please also visit the website established in Blake’s honor: www.blakesstory.com
I should add that this has perhaps been the most challenging project we have undertaken so far, not necessarily in scope, but rather emotionally. We didn’t take lightly the task we were given, and we can only hope that we have succeeded in a small way in honoring Blake and in documenting just a fraction of who he was. In short, we feel honored to have been given this opportunity.
We must of course thank Rick and Sonya Hove, who coordinated schedules and lined up interviews, combed through photos and video and exchanged dozens of emails with us. We also thank Chip & Desiree Denton for reaching out to us and giving us the opportunity to work on this project. But mostly we thank all those who agreed to sit and talk with us about Blake, some of them only weeks after his death. We are in awe of the courage each of you displayed and thank you for partnering with us to create this film. Jeff and Patty Hubbard, MacKenzie and I think about you nearly every day.
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Sarah Wilson (Graham's Mom) - Thank you for sharing this tribute. I shall pass it along to all my friends. It is, as others have said, incredible and incredibly moving.
Beth - This is an incredibly poignant film, I think it will help people to heal.
Graham - Incredible. Just simply incredible. Thank you for sharing this you two.
Meredith - Wow. What a beautiful, powerful film! Thank you for sharing Blake’s story!
michelle - oh gosh!!! this was so difficult to watch. it was so wonderfully inspirational and yet, so painful. you created something with this video. it will be difficult for the family to view this and yet they would never do without it.
thank you for such a wonderful memorial to a wonderful child!