Rhonda Bachner:  

My son David was born on January 16, 1991 and he died August 11, 2009. The day he was born was one of the happiest days of my life and the day he died was the worst day. It is every parent’s nightmare that their child predecease them and, unless you have been there, there is nothing anyone can say to convey the kind of incomprehensible impact it is to lose a child. There is much to say about the circumstances of David’s birth; but what has become important to me is David’s life. As a child, I can remember that he HAD to have a ball in his hand at all times. He would spend his days either kicking or throwing or batting a ball and he became an outstanding athlete out of the many hours he spent practicing. As David got older, he became clear that he was a gifted athlete and, while he played four seasons in high school, he was most noted for his career in high school baseball. He set school records with a 17-3 record, 1.50 ERA and 239 strikeouts. His senior season was one of the best in New Jersey history: 9-2 with a 0.97 ERA and 125 strikeouts in 64 2/3 innings. The truth is sports, specifically baseball, were the most important thing to David, except there actually was one thing more important. David loved people. He loved his friends and he had friends in many, many groups. He had friends who were jocks, and friend that were “nerds” and friends that were “thugs” and friends that didn’t fit in any of those categories. He was known for his smile and his ability to brighten someone’s day if they were down, or lend an ear if they were upset, or buying them lunch if they were broke and none of that depended on anything other than there was a peer in need and David could do something to fill that need. David was the kind of kid that has that something special that comes along once in a lifetime. One of the most precious relationships to David was his girlfriend, Carolyn. If you knew David, you knew Carolyn. And vise versa. People were always tempted to talk about them as though they were high school sweethearts and, indeed, they WERE high school sweethearts, but they were also much, much more than that. They were the type of couple that when one wept, the other tasted salt. In David’s passing, a part of Carolyn went with him and, while she would, of course, resurrect from this tragedy, her life would never, ever be the same. David died on August 11, 2009. It was three week before he would have gone to Seton Hall University. It was three weeks before all of his friends left for school as well. The community was devastated at the news of David’s death and the outpouring of grievers and the expressions of their grief were, and frankly still are, overwhelming. The viewing and services occurred over two days and the lines of people at the church were non-stop. Kids made murals with thousands of pictures of David. The baseball teams – both his high school team and the boys from Seton Hall – gathered in the church were David’s viewing was held and they openly wept. The kids organized a baseball game where everyone wore t-shirts with Bachner 16 on the back and Unhittable on the front. These original shirts were the very first offered in what is now Unhittable Apparel and the David Jordan Bachner Memorial Fund was created out of kids creating t-shirts and putting together a baseball game. As I said, the outpouring of grievers and their expressions were overwhelming and beyond touching. I developed a FB page called “In loving memory of David Jordan Bachner” and this site allowed kids to stay connected with David. What was important to me was that kids would be able to go on with their lives, even though I was devastated that my son was not going on with his life. For the first year, many kids wrote to David almost daily. They told him about their days, they told him about thin...Expand for more