JONATHAN JAMES

12/05/1984-12/20/2003 

SUNRISE     SUNSET  

   
Love from the Trevizo Family

Thank you for lighting a candle in my memory. It gives my mom joy and we
all appreciate your messaages. I ask God to bless all who
come by to visit.
Love
Johnny


   









   





     


 Visit me here too! 
www.myspace.com/jonathanarreolamemory

Thinking of you Jonathan and your dear loving Family / Teri Drebit
 (Angel Mom Of Jaime) 

      
 

This memorial website was created in the memory
of my son, Jonathan James Arreola who was born in Glendale, California on Dec 05, 1984 and passed away on December 20, 2003 at the age of 19. 
He died in a single car accident on his way to the
the place he loved the most, the beach. 




Thank you Lisa Copeland 
 
  
He was not speeding or drinking it was just a terrible tragic accident that cannot be explained except to say that "God called him home because his earthly life was through." His female passenger friend survived
the accident and is recovering well, just as Jonathan  would have wanted.  He leaves behind his legacy by all the lives he touched along the way.  
Jonathan  was very special, he was always happy and lit up a room the instant he walked in. He was always there for anyone who needed him.
         
      
     

Jonathan was a true friend and I know he had many.  
At his service there were several hundred people there to pay there respect.  
For those who attended his recent memorial. I thank you all for "never letting him be forgotten." 
He never judged anyone but always thought
as every one as equal no matter who they were or what they accomplished.  He saw through the obstacles and always found the best in each person he encountered. 




         

He leaves behind his parents Juan and Marcia and his two sisters, Amanda and Andrea with such an emptiness n their lives that will only be filled the day they are joined together in Heaven. His family 
and his friends miss him dearly. 
 
              

Dear Oprah Winfrey, 

My name is Marcia Arreola and I live in Cerritos, California.  I am writing this letter in hopes that you
 can help me and other mothers like myself who 
struggle everyday with the loss of a child.   So often
there are shows that portray the loss of the loved ones through violence, 
drugs, or some other tragedy in life.  How about those 
of us who have lost our child with no one to blame and nowhere to turn for support.

It was Friday, December 19th, 2003 myself and my 2 daughters were in attending my sisters wedding.  Jonathan, my son, who was 19 at the time,
was going to meet us at the reception with his friend later that evening.  We arrived 
at the reception about 6:00 p.m. in the 
city of West Covina and
began to enjoy the celebration of my newly wedded sister.  
I kept glancing at the door as each guest arrived waiting for
 my son to be there. Guest after guest and no Jonathan.  As time passed things became sullen, no one was really dancing and even my mother was off in the 
corner not feeling well.  About 9:10 my mother asked me to 
go to the restroom with her. 


    
I gladly went along and remember saying to her that the restroom was so
far away.  We had to leave the room and exit down an outside hallway to reach it.  As the music faded away and I entered the restroom and my 
oldest daughter, Amanda, came running through the door with her cell phone in hand.  She said, “It’s my dad, it’s an emergency.” My heart fell and in that moment I 
knew it was about my son.  From that moment on everything is a blur but with one deep breath I knew 
what was ahead.  I reached for he phone and I remember my ex-husband saying that Jonathan has been in an accident and to meet him there, they are taking him to UCI.~UCIs  trauma hospital in the City of Orange about 20 miles away from where I stood.  I ran back to the reception and gathered my belongings and my youngest child Andrea and told my family of the accident as I
 was running to the car.  My friend drove my girls 


 
I remember speaking to Jonathan’s
father again and saying “is he dead?”  He said, “ I don’t know, it’s really bad.”  I finally arrived at the hospital 
and as I entered the emergency room I saw a gurney outside covered with blood, I turned to my friend and said “That’s Jonathan’s blood” she tried to reassure me that it wasn’t, 
but as a mother you know.  At that that time all I 
could think was that my son was dead and 
how could God have forsaken me.  I finally was able to 
enter the room in which Jonathan lay.  There was blood 
being pumped into him as quickly as it was coming out 
through a tube on the other side.  I did not recognize the 
body that lay there, it wasn’t until I looked at his feet did I know that it was my child, my son, the boy I had raised, the man I would never see again.  I stood there numb. 
On his side was his father sitting in a chair just staring with 
no expression but that of someone who’s life would never
 be the same.  As I stood in that room all I could do is ask 
God why? 
The doctor came in and I said,  “I know you do this 
everyday but please don’t let him die, he is my only son.”  
The doctor’s only words to me were “he’s very sick.” 
In that moment I felt my world come crashing down and I 
went numb.  We were transferred upstairs to CCU, the 
Critical Care Unit; Jonathan was placed in a room with what seem like a hundred tubes running out of his body.  
As the next several hours passed family members came 
and went to see Jonathan.  Several times I was sure that he could hear all 
that we were saying but just could not answer.  
His head was swollen and
 he no longer looked like the boy I knew but his hands 
and feet remained the same and I never lost sight of the beautiful boy he was.  

        

As time went by I began to notice something protruding 
from his ear. 
I knew then that it had to be his brain. I told Jonathan to 
ask God for another chance if he feltthat he was  going to recover. I never asked God to leave him; if I had it
would have been for my own selfish reasons.  I knew my 
son would not want to remain here on earth in a body that
 was no longer functional.  
He had too much life and love left to be restrained to a bed
 for the rest of his life.  Somewhere in the early morning of 
the 20^th the doctors came in and told my-ex-
husband and my self that they need to talk to us and took
us to another room.  At this point his father had never left his side.


 
Jonathan had borrowed his dad’s SUV for the evening to 
drive his friend (girl) to the reception.  Jonathan decided to 
head in the opposite direction of the reception to the beach instead.  He was traveling along a two-lane highway.  
He was heading south and for some unknown 
reason he hit the center divider.  As he tried to regain 
control of the vehicle he struck the center divider again 
and the vehicle flipped.   
He and his friend were ejected from the vehicle. 
Jonathan was thrown 15 feet and his passenger 70 feet.  
The passenger survived the accident due to the fact that Jonathan’s skull was crushed on the initial flip of the vehicle
 and was not ejected until the second flip.  This was a single vehicle accident with no speeding, alcohol, or drugs involved according to the police report. His passenger 
cannot recall the events that led to the 
accident or how it ocurred .
         We will never know why or how it happened.  
Witnesses could only proclaim that it was just a tragic 
accident thatshould have never occurred.

Driving to the hospital, what should have taken 20 minutes took an eternity.As the doctors were explaining to us that they would 
have to remove the tubes because Jonathan was brain dead, it wasn’t a matter of “if” but “when.”  What I did not know is that Amanda was in Jonathan’s room at this time, before we could give the doctor’s our answer a nurse walked and said “you don’t have decide Jonathan decided for you, his heart stopped.”  
My daughter watched her brother die in that room and to this day I will never know how it has affected her.  Jonathan never again regained consciousness nor did I ever have an opportunity to tell my son good-bye.

It has been 2 years and 5 months since the loss of my son ]
and not a day goes by that I don’t think of him and shed a
 tear for my loss. 
I am not the only one who has suffered.  His sisters have suffered the loss of their older brother and their protector.  
I have had to go on living, not for me, but for them.  I don’t feel the need to be here anymore but I know I cannot abandon the girls that I have.  I love them so very much and would give my life for them but since Jonathan’s death I have not been 
the mother I should be.  My faith in God is what helps me to get up each morning and function in a world that seems so empty now.

 I wrote this because I was hoping you could have a Show for mother’s who have lost their children and how it affects not only her but their families as well.  I feel that it should be more recognized that a loss of child is like no other pain or suffering.  No one can tell you they know how it feels until they have experienced the very same loss.  Even the loss of a loved one cannot compare to the loss of a child.  Our children are supposed to bury us we are not supposed to bury them. 
Oprah, I know that everything you touch turns to “gold” so I was hoping that you could give a golden moment to 
recognize those of us who grieve for our children.

Sincerely,
Marcia Arreola

This letter was written so that parents like us
 could be recognized. 


      

It happened in the dead of night 
 On a day that seemed so right 
The party was almost through 
But the night has just begun 

 I had mixed emotions all day 
Why did I feel sad and happy 
 I did not know why
But I knew it was a beautiful day 


So my aunt was happy
For it was her wedding day 
But that night was a horride one
For death was in the air 

 We got the call that was never 
expected
n the treacherous nigh 
Wishing it would all end soon
Hoping we would go home happy 

 The hospital was a cold,lonely place 
  Full of sadness in the trama room 
The accident that would change 
everything
15 to 20 minutes left would 
his time expire 



 Then the next morning arrived 
Happy he was still alive 
Then came six and he was   
gone 
The room filled with pain and sorrow 


     Will this pain be over soon 
    Only thing to do was go on 
It is not so easy 
      This pain will live on 
   
       
         In loving memory of my big brother
Jonathan J  Arreola 
       who is miss so much and will never
be
 forgotten 
    with a big void in our lives. 
Love you so much Jonathan!



4/27/06 by Amanda 




 My Mom and Sisters 

   
 Jonathan loved to cook for us....
                                    
 
       
  

                              
         

           

      He would come home, take left overs 
and 
    make Gourmet meals.  He had such a talent
in kitchen.

         


                         
          

Buenas Noches
Duerme con los angelitos

 Please lite a candle in the Memorial Candle section and add a few words of your own
or visit the Tribute and Condolences section where you are able 
to write more...
Tell us the wonderful experiences and
stories about Jonathan and what he meant to you.
If you have a picture to add just e-mail me
and I will place it on his site as soon as possible.
Please come back often and visit, as I will
be adding new pictures and memories of Jonathan.
Don't forget to tell everyone who knew Jonathanto visit his site 
and add their own memories they shared with him.
We want to keep Jonathan's spirit alive in
all of us. I am sure there are so many
friends he had that I don't know about who have stories to tell 
this way his family can experience his life through others.
We want the world to know that Jonathan
is our special angel and he lives in all of us
that knew him..