Thomas Corey Bushman

From Some of Thomas’s Siblings…

From Chandler, Brother, Age 20

Tom

10/10/2023 1:19 AM

I don't know whether to write this to Thomas or about Thomas. so i guess itll kind of be a mix of both. Thomas Corey Bushman is part of a big family, he's the fourth oldest sibling of 9. and the second oldest of the four bushmonkeys. he has two moms and two dads. a huge extended family and group of best friends. Thomas loves so many, and is loved by even more. Thomas is an amazing artist. he loves to draw, and create music. Thomas is not religious. Thomas is a very spiritual person, he believes that everyone and everything is part of the same whole. he believes i am you and you are me. Thomas is and will be the bravest person i ever met. he never backs down from a fight. he never lets someone tell him no, or that he's wrong, or that he's not smart. he has so much empathy for everything around him, so much compassion for everything from his family to the tiniest bug. he never fails to protect the people he loves. he never failed to protect the animals he loves. he believes in the decisions he made. he does not believe in the bullshit we define our lives by. he does not believe in working a traditional job, he does not believe in school. he does not believe in living your life by someone else's terms.

Thomas has so much he wants to accomplish. he wants to be a dad. he wants to have financial freedom doing something he loves. he wants to get married. he wants to travel the world. he wants to be healthy and in shape. he wants to get sober. he did not want to die.

Thomas we miss you so much. Thomas i miss you so much. its so unbelievably hard to not have you here physically with me. our universe was put on pause a week ago and we have to figure out how to keep moving. the world feels even more grey now than i ever knew was possible. i know youre sorry, and i know you didn't want to to hurt us. and i know that you were right about the universe and about death. i know that your not gone.

i feel you in everything i do. I feel your energy and hear you when im listening to music. i feel you smiling when i'm flying down the highway. i feel you telling me that i need to be safe. i feel you trying to comfort me with the wind and perfectly timed lightning. i see you turning the street lights purple. i see you in the ripples of water. i see you in the sun, the moon, and the stars. i see you when i look in the mirror.

Thomas i am so grateful for you and everything you've taught me. i'm so grateful for all the memories and photos and music taste you've left us. i'm so grateful for the songs you wrote. i'm so grateful ill get to listen to your voice forever. and i'm grateful that you taught me to never take a moment with a loved one for granted. i carry you with me always.

Tom Tom thank you for motivating me to live my life to the fullest, to do absolutely everything that i want to. so that i can bring you for the ride. thank you for making me realize death is not a burden. but life is precious. i am so excited to see you face to face again one day.

Tom Im going to make you proud. I love you so much

Chandler Bushman

From Anna, Sister, Age 16

When I think about my brother, Thomas, I think about the coldplay concert we went to last year. I think about the way tom was standing with his hands crossed, bopping his head to the song and smiling, while everyone else in the stadium was jumping and screaming.

When I think about Tom, I think about when we were in SixFlags 11 days ago. We were standing in line, and Tom started playing music on his phone. Rap of course.. subtly dancing, rapping the words. And obviously he was hitting his vape. Just for him, the intercom came on saying “Reminder, there is no smoking or vaping allowed. There are smoking areas”. I looked at tom a few seconds later to see him hitting his vape again. There was a lady standing behind him judging him SO hard. With this disgusted face. Another worker came up to him later and said “again, vaping is not allowed”. He said “okay”. Few seconds later, hit it again. This lady standing behind him was watching it all. Tom didn’t care. Didn’t care about the lady, about people hearing his music and seeing him dance, didn’t care about the rules, didn’t care about what anyone thinks about him.

When I think about you tom, i think about when i was getting bullied by three kids in 7th grade. They shoved me in the gym once and when you heard about it, you skipped class to go to my lunch and pull the kids outside. You pushed them against the wall and told them that if they ever messed with me again you’d actually do something.

When I think about you, i think about when my first boyfriend’s ex was trying to fight me and saying shit, so you got your friends to fight her so i didn’t.

I think about when i cracked my head open at the lake and you carried me up the mountain.

I think about couple months ago when you found out something a guy did, took me to dinner and told me that it wasn’t my fault. You were worried about 2 things. Making sure i was okay, and how you could find this guy, and do god knows what. I still don’t know what happened with that…

I think about all the times you picked me up from work, a friends house, or gave me rides there. I think about you opening your room’s loud ass door and coming out to get food or say hi. I think about you asking me how my day was. I think about the love you had for bella. I think about the love you had for every little creature. I think about your smile tom. Your hugs. You had the best freaking hugs. I think about you giving yourself to save a scorpion. I think about you and Jonah play fighting 24/7. I think about when you asked me to teach you how to make tik toks so you could be famous a few months ago, and then hated my advice. I think about all your words of wisdom. Teaching me that this all doesn’t really matter at the end of the day and to do whatever the f*ck i want. That’s one of the last things you told me. That I care too much and need to relax and live life. To do what I want to do.

Even though you are still a big brother and inevitably give me a hard time, you protect me no matter what. Thank you for protecting me. You proved that you are the only one allowed to mess with me.

There is nobody like you tom tom. You’ve taught me one lesson more than any. To not give a shit what anyone thinks. You’ve also taught me to be strong. To stand my ground. To get out of my comfort zone. But in order to do those things, you have to not give a shit what anyone thinks.

Thank you for being such a great teacher. Your lessons will stay with me for the rest of my life. You are such a wise soul.

I see you everywhere. I see you in the stars, the moon, the sun. I see you in the blue skies. I see you in the sun rising and setting later. I see you in Jonah’s hair and walk, and in Chan’s hugs and smile. I feel you with me while i’m driving. Thank you for showing me that you are here Tom.

There are so many memories, smiles, tears, laughs, and all that we have attached to your name Tom. We will continue to make more memories as a family, just without your physical body.

It’s so hard to know exactly what to say, but this is just the very beginning of life without you.

Our worlds stopped a week ago when we found you tom. To be honest, we don’t know what to do without you. It feels impossible.

I am so sorry tom that you couldn’t accomplish everything you wanted to in your physical body. I know you want to be a dad, make music, get married to Bella, get clean, travel, and so much more. I would give anything for you to have those things.

You have taught us all so many lessons and we truly will use them. We will carry you on with us for everything that we do. We’ll talk about you, share pictures of you, share your music, share stories, take care of bella, and take care of ourselves.

Thank you for who you are tom. I cannot express my gratitude enough.

I will make you proud tom. I promise. Never goodbye, just see you later.

Sorry about all this sappy shit.. i’m sure you’re laughing at all of us bein a bunch of nerds.

Love you forever

From Jonah, Brother, Age 14

i have so many good memories with Thomas whether it was play fighting him or riding around town on electric scooters or even just sitting there doing nothing. he always used to come up to my room and go "what's the move jon" knowing that i had no ideas or plans. we would always figure out something to do even if it was as boring as going on a walk. God damn i miss him. we were gonna do so much together, it was thomas and jonah bushman against the world. And it still is, it will never be different. he's still gonna get rich with me, make music with me, start our clothing brand with me. He'll be there with me every step of the way. When i try to think about more memories i have with tom i always think of the same old stuff. Play fighting, hanging out with the homies, chilling by ourselves, exploring, and our childhood. we had a pretty good childhood if you ask me. Me and thomas didn't hangout much when we were younger but as we grew up we slowly eased into a very good brother relationship. there wasn't a lot of stuff we didn't do together. we would laugh and joke and talk about spiritual stuff. We would try to be better. He would tell me to remind him not to vape or smoke weed or whatever it was he wanted to stop doing. We would decide to go vegan or to start working out or whatever it was we wanted to do to make ourselves better and try and stick to it. we were always there for eachother and we always will be. Can't wait to see him again. Long. Live. Thomas Corey Bushman.

From Raeghyn, Sister, Age 19

About 7 years ago I met this beautiful soul. At Anna’s 9th birthday party I was introduced to the Bushman’s. Each of you stood out to me in so many ways, but Thomas your beautiful hair stood out to me the most. The way it was so orange and flowed so perfectly in the wind, little did I know I would be seeing that in the sunset one day. The way you walked was unlike no other, you showed everyone around you who you were just by the strut in your step. The way you dressed was so unique, but so you all at the same time. You were just a different soul, you knew what you wanted. You knew exactly how this world worked, you were so wise. In the short 17 years you were on this level of the video game you achieved so much. You taught all of us your lessons. We will all use your wisdom to live throughout our lives. Tomorrow is never promised, we all learned that a week and 2 days ago. Don’t worry Tom I’ll be seeing you in the sky, in the Miata’s that pass by, and every time I see a ginger with hair so effortlessly beautiful, I’ll think of you. I love you Thomas, and remember “who gives a f*ck what people think about you.”

Raeghyn Snyder

From Jake, Dad

Thomas wants me to begin with an inappropriate joke.

Thomas and I have quite few things in common. One thing in common we share is that We both used to have red hair. Drum bdmbsh. That was against my will, Thomas made me say that.

My 6 beautiful kids have taught me so many things, and they continue to teach me. My outlook and perspective on life and relationships, I have Thomas and all his siblings to thank. They teach me not to dwell on the past. What are we gonna do today to build our relationship? How am I gonna show up for you and how are you gonna show up for me? How today, are we gonna be there for each other and how are we gonna do better tomorrow?

Thomas gave me one of those most incredible compliments I’ve ever heard. For those that don’t know, we are a Coldplay family. Most things are optional at our house, But Coldplay is not optional. :)

The compliment: So I’m playing a song on guitar and singing, likely a Coldplay song,but I don’t recall which one.

And when I’m finished with the song, he says “dad, you said you always wanted to be a rockstar. You sound just as good as Coldplay. There’s no reason why they are rockstars and you’re not. If you wanna be a rockstar, go be a rockstar!”

Thomas philosophy, don’t sweat the small stuff in life.

“Get busy living,” “just do it.” Pretty sure Nike stole that slogan from Thomas. We have attorneys looking into it.

I’m gonna sing a song for Thomas. I know thomas is calling me a nerd for changing the lyrics to be more sappy and more about him, I think deep down he’s gonna love it, so I’ll do it anyway. here goes:

❤️ SONG

I come up to meet you

And tell you I’m sorry

You don’t know how lovely you are

I had to find you

Tell you I need you

Tell you Ill set you apart

Tell me your secrets

And ask me your questions

And let’s go back to the start

Runnin in circles

Chasing tails

Coming back as we are

Nobody said it was easy

It’s such a shame for us to part

Nobody said it was easy

No one ever said it would be this hard

Tom let’s go back to the start

I was just guessin at numbers and figures

Pulling the puzzles apart

Questions of science

Science with progress

That don’t speak as loud as my heart

Tell me you love me

Come back and haunt me

Oh and I’ll rush to the start

Runnin in circles

Chasin tails oh oh oh oh

Nobody said it was easy

Oh It’s such a shame for us to part

Nobody said it was easy

Oh oh oh oh

Tom let’s go back to the start

I had to find you, I had to see you, I had to miss you oh oh oh

Tell me you’re with me, that you’ll watch overme, tell me you love me oh oh oh

Tell me yours chillin, tell me you’re smiling, tell me you’re laughing. Oh oh oh

Ah ooh ooh ooh ohh

Oh oh oh oh

Tom let’s go back to the start

Thomas, thank you. Thank you for letting me be your dad. I am you and you are me. You are with me always. I feel you all around me and I can not express my gratitude enough, for staying with us and watching over all of us. Love you Thomas. Long live Tom ❤️

Forever, Dad

From Tyf, Step-Mom

Thomas

Oh my dear, sweet, feisty and brave Thomas. I truly don’t know how to put into words how I feel about you.

From the moment I met you, I knew you were special and a force that would challenge me and my heart strings.

There are so many moments that I will forever cherish as yours and mine, but the ones I hold the closest to my heart are the ones when you’d flash a smile, leave out a giggle, give me a bone crushing hug and ask for a favor…..hey tyffff.

I love your insanely beautiful hair, but I loved it most when it was out of the way and I could see your handsome face.

I love the memories of you being carefree and enjoying your time with our Brady Bunch. So much I will hold tight in my mental filing cabinet. Whether it was in our backyard playing in the pool, seeing your eyes light up during a ColdPlay concert, chilling on the boat, watching a movie, sitting down with us for dinner, checking in on me and Dad while we’re binge watching our show of the week, popping out of your room to grab a snack while I’m tidying up. All of it is locked in tightly to my heart. I’m not going to lie, there are times I know I’m going to struggle and crash down, and it’s because I’m going to miss you our norm. The time of day when it was just you and I at home. The sound of your bedroom door opening. Your footsteps climbing up our stairs. Seeing you while I was working in the loft. You may not physically be here with me, but I know you will still show me you’re in our home. I’ll still turn to see you. And I will still say, Morning, Sweetie. Your strength will help me stay strong, for you and our tribe.

The universe may not have given us a blood bond, but I hope in your heart you always know you were mine. My ginger babe, who I would do just about anything to show you my love. We may not have agreed on everything, but I hope we can agree on that.

Your talents constantly put me in awe of how amazing you are. The ways in which you held no fear, or worry of how others saw you. You are your own and that in its self has taught me oh so much. You have taught me so much.

I am forever grateful for the signs you’ve shown us that you’re still here, with us, watching over us and talking to us.

Thomas, I love you. You’ll always be on my mind, forever in my heart and always a part of my soul. I love you, Sweet Boy!

From Tobi, Mom

It is a miracle to me that I get to be your mommy Tom Tom. To be a part of your life has been and will ALWAYS be an indescribable honor.

It feels impossible to accept this new normal. We all just want MORE time with you here, even one more day. One more hug. One more conversation.

My heart will always long to look you in your beautiful eyes again or to run my fingers through your gorgeous hair or to hear your perfect laugh or to see your unforgettable smile or to hear you say “Mommm” one more time.

I will do everything I can to remember that I am you and you are me and to allow your beautiful light to shine through me.

I promise to live life fully and with bravery, the way you always encouraged us all to.

I promise to strive to be a good friend. You are such a good friend Thomas.

I promise to practice staying present and to cherish every moment I have with my people. You taught me the importance of presence so many times and in so many ways. Thank you for always teaching us the very most important things.

So many stories come to mind of you in nature. You’d find and befriend animals everywhere we went. I remember going on a walk with you where you announced you were about to find a snake, and within 5 minutes, you had found a snake. On another walk, you showed me where at least 5 or 6 tarantulas live around town, lured them out of their dens to say hello, and taught me all about tarantulas.

I recently came across a text you once sent. You told me, “yesterday i had a vision of a snake getting killed and it pissed me off but then i saw the snakes soul leave its body and go elsewhere, then the body became part of the ground and is now being used in the earths cycle so i wasn't pissed anymore.” You have always been one with nature and the universe Tom Tom and you always will be. Thank you for being such an incredible example and spiritual teacher.

I can already feel your joyful essence pushing each of us to be the best we can be and to not take one day here for granted.

I can feel AND hear you laughing at me when I’m taking things too seriously.

I can feel you doubling my courage and helping me be more patient and compassionate.

I feel your guidance showing me my ego and where I can do better.

I feel so much comfort from you when it is all just too much.

Thank you for your example of pure, unapologetic authenticity Thomas. You are the world’s best example of being 100% yourself no matter what.

Thank you for your perfect hugs. I want so badly to have just one more THOMAS hug.

Thank you for your music Tom Tom. What a priceless gift to be able to STILL hear your voice. You are so brilliant and talented and your magnificent heart lives on through your music and I am so very grateful.

Thank you for your art Thomas. I will cherish every one of your creations with all my heart, forever. Thank you for your smile. Your voice. Your laugh. Your own special language. YUBEDO.

Thank you for being a beautiful protector to us all Tom Tom. You cared for your people quietly and deeply and like no other– The deepest empath I have ever known. Countless stories come to mind of you sacrificing yourself to help a family member, a friend, a perfect stranger, an animal, an insect, and even a plant. Like the time you were so tiny and sincerely asked if you could take your brother’s spanking for him. Or all the moments you went out of your way to protect the tiniest bug or tree. Or all the times you chased down kids on the playground who were being mean to your siblings. Or the time you carried your friend who had had too much to drink on your shoulders way too far through the desert. Or the time you almost got punched in the face by a grown man at Subway for stepping in and telling him not to yell at his wife. I could go on and on with stories of you showing up for all of us in so many uniquely THOMAS ways. Courage is your natural instinct and we all felt safer in your presence. Thank you for sharing your giant, pure heart and perfect love with us all Thomas.

Thank you for your wisdom and for each and every conversation. We had so many high level, life-changing conversations. You helped evolve my perspective on life and to see everyone and everything with more love and compassion. You even helped me interpret my dreams with more love and wisdom. You are just incredible Thomas. I will miss learning and growing together with you here physically, but I have a feeling our spiritual work together is just beginning.

I can already see the beautiful work you are doing from the other side Thomas. I can feel your love and wisdom healing hearts, opening minds, and bringing people together. Good job my buddy. I love you so much.

Thank you Thomas, for showing us all how precious life is. You’ve reminded us all that truly— Nothing else matters but love.

I love you forever and always and no matter what my baby boy.

Mom Mom will always love Tom Tom.

Three squeezes.

From AJ, Step-Dad

There are so many different kinds of people in this world. Not a single one of them have been like Thomas.

Creative. Intentional. Pure. Love.

Words that do their best to describe an indescribable human. If you ever tried to tell Thomas something he was, I’m sure you found out quickly that he didn’t care. He knew who he was and there was nothing you or anyone else could say or do to shake that knowledge. There are two words though, that I think everyone who knew Thomas understood him to be.

Protector. And Friend.

You would have thought he was teaching a master class on it every time he fiercely defended someone he loved. And he did that a lot. I wouldn’t be surprised if a time immediately comes to mind when Thomas did that for you. If a sibling was ever bullied and Thomas found out about it. Ohhhhhhhh boy. It quickly became the last time it happened. Whether he was carrying a friend who couldn’t walk across a hot desert, or taking time away from his friends to be fully present with his 10 year old brother for hours playing fortnite, Thomas gave of himself in the most meaningful ways to the people he loved. Without thought. Without expectation of gratitude. He just gave. Again and again and again. Protector. And friend.

I wish those who didn’t know Thomas, or those who didn’t understand him, could have truly seen him. I wish they could have seen him defend our little ball of anxiety dog Bennett. While he was driving the rest of us crazy with his non stop tippy tappy, Thomas would reassure him that he was a good dog and that he was loved by all of us. I wish they could have seen the boy who was hurting so deeply when our sweet dog Cody was ready to pass, that he came alone from his dad’s house to his mom’s at 3:30 in the morning to lay with his precious doggy and cuddle on a cold floor, offering the kind of love and comfort that only Thomas could provide. I wish they could have seen him alone in nature. Never catching an animal, but instead, showing animals he was only there to admire and love them. I wish they could have seen those animals crawl right onto Thomas and stay, comfortably there for as long as Thomas would give that love and admiration. I wish everyone could have seen him.

I am you and you are me. Protector. And Friend.

Thomas has one of the most beautiful hearts I’ve ever known. I learned from him throughout his life, but find that I’m learning exponentially m more from him now. I’ve seen, and felt strongly in my heart, the work he is already doing to heal us all. Of the unimaginable heartbreak we are experiencing, of course. But in so many ways I didn’t see coming. I’ve seen miracles in the last two weeks. If you don’t have an understanding of Thomas’s wisdom, don’t look for it. Just open your heart here and now, and you’ll start to understand the depth of his power.

He had a tattoo he designed, with his own artistry and handwriting. It’s beautiful. It says “Only the strong survive.” And I agree. Only the strong survive. Because survival isn’t about escaping death in this life. No one escapes that. It’s about giving everything you have to overcome the atrocities this life can lay before you. It’s about making the choice to fight, even when the choice feels impossible. It’s about falling down and it never being a question that you’ll get back up. It’s refusing the impossible and finding a way. Only the strong can. And Thomas was the strongest.

You hear the words too often after something as difficult as this. “Hold your loved ones close.” “Don’t take any moment for granted.” “Don’t miss a chance to tell them that you love them.” I wish I could have understood the weight of what that all truly meant. I don’t know that it’s even possible until the option is taken from you. Don’t let anything get in the way of giving every available moment to the people you love. In the last two weeks, Thomas has taught me that. I cannot wait to see what he’ll teach me next.

Cousin, nephew, grandson and partner. Teacher and guide. Brother. Son.

And now, Guardian Angel. He’s well into his service there.

This is how I feel and remember Thomas. As a fighter. A warrior. A Protector. And friend. Fulfilling those roles with an authentic love for his people that was unmatched. I love you Thomas. I feel your strength and love affecting everyone in this family. Thank you for the love you’ve given. Thank you for the lessons you’ve taught. Thank you for the way you’ve somehow made this family stronger through the most unimaginable tragedy. I can feel from all of them that it’s something we won’t take for granted. We will hold onto it forever. I will hold onto it forever. I hope you’re having a blast with Granny and grandpa Blake. Grandma Lona, grandma daisy and grandad. Grandma and grandpa bushman. I hope your reunion with Cody was pure magic. Please come get Bennett. Please.

I am you and you are me. And I will never forget. You’ve inspired me to be a better protector. And friend.

Long Live Tom. His legacy is already insurmountable.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.AdvantageMaryvale.com for the Bushman family.