What's new and important

> 2013 Scholarship update. See our Somerville and Edina recipients HERE

> click for REAL PURSUITS
updated May 6, 2013

> @insurancerescue Twitter updates for our 2013 Scholarships, police pursuits and insurance

> I saw a fitting note the other day: "Tears are words the heart can't say."

Paint me a room where I can dream
Dream of a world that I used to see
Paint me a window, soft and defined
And flood yellow light
Through the open blinds
It's somewhere, hidden from view
A portrait, an epitaph...

Antimatter, Epitaph.

> Thinking of Paul and how much he loved our Utah ski trips. Here's a photo from Feb 2013.

> We're in the News - read more

> There ARE Safer Ways and better pursuit policies which WILL prevent deaths. Read about PursuitSAFETY's Safer Way Award Winner for 2012.
Learn More

> Editorial 'No police pursuit is worth a human life' 11/24/2012
Full Article

> Please see our 2012 Holiday Greeting - Original photography & holiday card design by Scott Farris

> Alec Fischer's full movie about bullying, Minnesota Nice?, has been released.  You really must see it. Here

> August 2012: After more than five years from Paul's death, while mowing the lawn today, thoughts of him overwhelm and tears flow again - as though it was only yesterday... jgf

> 2012 scholarship recipients Norman Li & Pristine Mei photo

> See new photos, video & music from our 2012 Edina scholarship recipients! HERE

Paul Victor Farris

11/2/1983 - 5/27/2007
taken away too soon

MAY 27, 2013
Six Years

How Long is a Lifetime?
By Jon Farris
May 27, 2013
 
I used to think a lifetime was just that – a lifetime. For many, that is probably true.
But now I know better. A lifetime can be a few moments, a day, or something else altogether. I know because I’ve lived many lifetimes, with the most important revolving around my family.
Below are a few, being shared on the six year anniversary of my family’s ‘new lifetime.’
 
My lifetime lasted from:
 • my birth until my wedding
 • my wedding until Paul’s birth
 • Paul’s birth until Scott’s birth
 • Scott’s birth until Paul’s death

My life inexorably changed when Paul died. Four of the most intense memories are:
 • 60 seconds, in the early morning of May 27, 2007, when a Somerville doctor called and said Paul was dead
 • a flight from Minneapolis to Boston that afternoon
 • the day in Boston when we said our final goodbye to Paul
 • the day in Edina when we said our final goodbye again
 
Since Paul died, my life is often lived moment to moment or day to day. I can’t always control that. And like every parent who has lost a child, part of every day is spent living in the past, remembering what used to be and what can never be again.

I love my life, but I often don’t like this lifetime.

This website is a place where we honor and remember Paul. It is a place where family and friends can see and listen to Paul.

It is a place where you can visit and reflect about Paul, about the frailty of life or whatever else matters to you.

Paul had an impact on many people during life and also after his death. His spirit will live with us forever.

We will continue to do everything that Paul expects of us, and we hope that you will too.

We'll use this site to tell you about Paul.

We'll use it as a place where Edina High School and Somerville High School applicants for the Paul Farris Memorial Scholarship can learn about Paul.

We'll use it for our advocacy against unnecessary high speed police pursuits, because if simple judgment had been used on that early morning of May 27, 2007, Paul would still be here with us.

Advocacy to stop unnecessary police pursuits

'Police pursuits, for the most part, are merely a passing newspaper story or television headline, forgotten by readers and viewers a few minutes later. But for the hundreds of relatives and thousands of friends of these innocent victims, the pain is real and never goes away. Never.'

- Jonathan Farris, Paul's dad

Paul died as the result of a totally unnecessary police pursuit in a Boston suburb. Since that day we've been working to change legislation and talking with anyone who will listen. We've now joined forces with PursuitSAFETY  in an all out effort to enact real and positive changes so others will not have to suffer through what Paul's family & friends have.

Please see our Advocacy pages to learn more about this pervasive problem.

YOU can help save an innocent person's life! Find it in your heart to support our advocacy.  Learn more

InsuranceRescue - Jon's company