To some, the fatal motorcycle crash two weeks ago on 35th Avenue s.w. near Juneau Street was just a tragic statistic. But for West Seattle's Seffernick family and close friends, the evening of April 13th was a horrifying nightmare as the accident took the life of their Andrew, whose 25th birthday would be six days later.

"He was our baby," said Andrew's mother, Nancy, who wanted to share memories of her son with the West Seattle Herald's readers. Andrew lived with his mother, and father, Bob, and his two year-old son, A.J., short for Andrew, Jr., in their home near South Seattle Community College where he had taken welding and art courses. He is survived by three older sisters, Aubrey, Ashley, and Colleen.

A.J.'s mother, Karra, lives close by. She attends South Seattle Community College and works. She and Andrew's family want to work out how best to raise A.J.

"We'll get it figured out," said Nancy, a mail carrier in Renton. Bob is in construction. "A.J.'s got a lot of loving family," she said.

Nancy held a small piece of paper with some notes.

"I was trying to write a regular obituary, but a 'traditional' obituary doesn't fit that kid," she said of Andrew. "We're all different in our family, but you could say Andrew was the 'differentest'. He did all right in school, but was not into that traditional math, reading, or science. He just wanted to build things, change things, think things out differently than others."

Andrew attended Denny Middle School, then Chief Sealth, but graduated from Crest Learning Center, an alternative Mercer Island high school. Crest gave Andrew PE credit for riding his bicycle from home all the way to school.

"Sometimes teachers were wowed by him, and sometimes they just said 'no' to him, that he can't do it that way," Nancy said. "He was a little off the mold, outside the lines. For his senior project for Chief Sealth (before transferring to Crest) he was building a hovering skate board. He bought a leaf blower and a lot of other stuff and worked a long time on it. It did not blow hard enough to lift him. Some things he designed didn't work, but other things did."

"Every Christmas you hoped you'd get picked by Andrew (in the gift grab bag) because you always would know you'd get something remarkable," said Mel Carson, Andrew's brother-in law and Ashley's husband. "He made me wine racks from welded horse shoes and old railroad spikes. They were amazing."

Another Andrew creation that works well is a green bicycle with an added side car he welded on for A.J. and a mini, A.J.-sized wooden walking cane his son continues to carry around the house.

Nancy pointed to a foot-tall metal flower sculpture "planted" in their front lawn garden. "People told him that if he would just repeat one design he could sell a lot of them," Nancy recalled. "But he didn't want to sell them. If someone touched him (spiritually) he'd just give it away. And once he made something, he wanted to move on and build something else."

"He was the nicest person I ever met," said Jake Woolley, 14, referring to Andrew. Jake both lives down the street with his mother and in Arlington with his father. During this interview Jake appeared at the front door with a hand-written letter for Andrew's parents expressing his condolences and the positive impact his mentor had on him.

"He was just an awesome guy, like a hero to me" Jake added. "He would teach me everything, and was someone I could talk to." Jake helped Andrew build the bicycle with the sidecar.

"He talked about starting a long board company and I'd be the spokesman," said Jake with a sparkle in his eyes. "The designs he made, you don't find them in stores. I'd like to still do that for him when I get older," he said.

On Sunday, May 15th, family and friends of Andrew Seffernick are invited to a celebration of his life at the Alki Bathhouse, 1pm- 4pm. Some of his art will be displayed. We will update with more details.

The family suggests that guests bring bicycles and skateboards as they plan to do a ride along Alki that afternoon. They will bring the bicycles he created.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be placed in the drop box of any branch of BECU to "Andrew Seffernick, Jr. Benevolent Account" for his son, or mail donations to: BECU, Box 97050 Seattle, 98124.