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  FLY HIGH RILO
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    ​​​STORIES
    ABOUT 
    ​RILO​​

    If you would like to contribute a story about Riley please email your post to flyhighrilo@gmail.com for approval! 

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    March 2021

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Riley's Birth

3/3/2021

 
"Happy Birthday to Riley!
This is how I remember Riley's Birthday:
I remember It was planned.  I remember Win and I coming out to see our new second Estes baby when born. 
I remember that chunk of a boy with a gorgeous smile. I remember making round steak and roasted potatoes with Win and Burke.  I remember Win contracted pink eye.  I remember Win could not touch Rileyboo.  I remember Win was banned from touching Burke.  I just remember loving being there for our boys! 
This is a big strong family and I'm excited to celebrate Riley today.
What a flipping  Bright Light.
So much love." 
​-Jill Etheridge 
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The Knuckle Ball

3/3/2021

 
"For 4 years I was lucky enough to be Riley’s throwing partner. For most that sounds like not much, but the amount of fun and laughs he and I shared for those countless times will never leave me. Most of our fellow teammates wondering how Riley and I would finish throwing so much quicker than everyone. The coaches even a few times made us go back out there and throw some more because “it wasn’t long enough to get warmed up.” The laughs will never be forgotten, but Riley’s knuckle ball might be the most vivid memory. For those who have never had to catch it, you are lucky. It was something out of a movie and I for one could never catch it. My shins got hit every day but somehow it was always funny and happy and there isn’t another person in the world who could’ve made getting pegged in the shins fun, but Riley.
Love and miss you"
​
-Charles Taylor
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Curvey Road with Rilo

3/3/2021

 
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"Where do I begin... That smile I mean seriously, it could light up any room no matter the energy or mood. Riley has always been a brother to me and a part of my family. I remember a couple years ago when we had a “snow storm” and Riley and I went to go ride around for some unknown reason but I was always ready to adventure especially with Rilo. We were driving through my neighborhood and there’s a sharp turn and I said “ Riley you see that turn right?” And he said “ Duhhh, hold on HG” and we went slipping, sliding, curving and every way except straight. I nearly peed my pants and I look at Riley and his smile was ear to ear like he was having the time of his life. No matter what the situation was he was always grinning. I also remember one time I had bronchitis and I stayed home from school and for some reason McCallum had the “boys” over and they were all downstairs and I was trying to sleep upstairs. All of a sudden I hear a knock on my door and it’s Riley with a cup of water and a snack, I was half asleep and Riley came in and jumped on me and sat with me for a little until I coughed, and I have never seen someone get up and run away so fast like he did. Riley was always that friend of Mccallum's that I was excited to see and talk to because he always had something to say that made me laugh... almost too much. Love you always Riley"

Love, Helen Grace

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Fishing with Rilo

3/2/2021

 
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"Having a list of hundreds of memories and life adventures that have been done with Riley along the way makes it hard to pick a certain time or place where we had our most fun. Whether it was
at a high school party, on the boat, or somewhere completely random Riley and I were always able to have a great time. I remember some of the days we would skip class and go to the beach before we had to be back to baseball practice at 4 later that day, these were always great memories. One thing that always seems to stick out to me when thinking about Riley is when we went shark fishing. Riley always talked about how much he enjoyed swimming with sharks but never was able to catch a big shark like those. So one day we decided to do it, we went to Motts and got some of their fish carcass’s and headed out to the inlet. We ended up anchoring the boat about 70 yards down the inlet and put the lines out to later catch about a 7-8 foot bull shark. The reason this memory always sticks out to me when thinking about Riley is because of how happy and fired up he was to catch a huge shark. I am so happy I was able to share this lifelong memory along with so many others with Riley."
​
-Mccallum Hutchins
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A Friend in Me

3/2/2021

 
"Knowing Riley was like having a twin brother. My parents moved in the same neighborhood as the Estes family when I was not even six months old, and from there I was blessed to know Riley all 20 years of his life. I say to know Riley was like having a twin brother because we did everything together when we were little. He would always be holding my hand and putting his arm around me because he thought he was protecting me by doing so. Even the past few months, he was always checking in on me to see what I was up to and how I was doing.
​
One of my favorite memories of Riley and I was pretty recently. This past September, I received my acceptance letter to UNCW. When I told Riley, he was excited and wanted to go to Sonic and get a milkshake to celebrate that we were going to school together again. When I went  to pick him up I think we sat in the parking lot at Sonic for an hour just two old and lifelong friends catching up. We filled each other in on everything we felt like the other had missed. The goods and the bads and we laughed and most importantly, Riley listened. He cared so much about what was going on in my life. Riley truly was a friend in me that I will cherish forever."
-Morgan Gattis
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The Best Partner

3/2/2021

 
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​"One of my most recent interactions with Riley was a night in early December when I was home visiting my family in Wilmington between Thanksgiving and Christmas. A bunch of us were at a restaurant that had dart boards and of course there was some "friendly" competition taking place. My brother and his girlfriend were partners, my mom and her boyfriend were partners, and both pairs thought they were unbeatable. I knew the partner I wanted to compete with - Riley! Win or lose I knew we would have the most fun and that he would treat me the same no matter the outcome (or my contribution). 

From the time Riley could walk and talk and partake in the games with the older kids, Riley was always my partner. Whether we were playing card games with our parents, capture the flag in the neighborhoods, laser tag at Jungle Rapids, or a game in the pool - Riley was always the person I wanted on my team. He was a team player that was competitive, yet kind, determined, yet patient. If I had the best game of my life, or the worst, Riley was the most supportive teammate you could have. Although we both hate to lose more than anything, we always had a great time and laughed until our stomachs hurt. 

I will miss my partner in games and in life!  Love you always Boo Bear."

-Anna Hildreth 

P.S. You better save my spot as your darts partner up there! 
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T 'n T

3/2/2021

 
Riley was the perfect combination of Tough and Tender. I could give Tough examples about yard sports and snake bites. I could tell you about his Tender side especially when it came to his early love and sympathy for animals. But today, his 20th birthday, my thoughts go to the birthdays we celebrated together in the past...I don’t think we missed a single one. Riley’s Tenderness was evident in the love (and pound of butter) that went into the homemade cakes he made for me year after year. And for his 14th birthday, I took him to a skydiving simulator and watched how quickly he jumped into that uncontrollable wind tunnel, Tough as always. Happy Birthday my precious boy. I am celebrating you, the years we spent together and the special place you’ve always had in my heart that keeps you forever near. Love you!!

-Chelle Belle (Michelle Hildreth) 
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The Mailbox

3/2/2021

 


​"Thinking back on my amazing nephew Riley, I am brought back to all the great summer beachweeks we shared in Wilmington. One of the many things I loved about Riley was how great of a tour guide he was. He loved his hometown and loved to show it off. He would always drop whatever he was doing at time to entertain us and show us around. I remember on one of our many trips to Wrightsville Beach he told me he wanted to show me something down the beach, it was the amazing Shell Island Mailbox. He walked me through the area explaining its meaning. I was amazed at the details and the explanation he gave at such a young age. Riley was wise beyond his years. It was a special day that only the two of us shared I will treasure those special beach times with Riley the rest of my life!"

​-Gray Garrett
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Fires with Rilo

3/2/2021

 
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"If there was one thing Riley loved more than anything, it was fire. When we were growing up Riley wanted a fire pit in our back yard SO BAD. For years mom and dad just never bought a fire pit or had one built in the back yard like Riley begged. He talked about it all the time. One afternoon in the summer when we were in middle school we had the best idea ever!

Riley and I created a plan. We knew that mom and dad were never going to get a fire pit and we had to take things into our own hands. We knew that if we used shovels and dug out a big circle in the grass. We knew that if the grass was dug up, no matter how mad our parents were, they had to let us keep it since the back yard would look pretty dumb with just a huge dirt circle in the middle of the pristine back yard grass.

We spent the whole afternoon going around the neighborhood finding big rocks and stones in order to line the fire pit. We found tons of rocks and made it look great! Mom and dad walked in the back yard and almost killed us when they realized a huge patch of grass in the back yard was missing.

For years and years, we used that fire pit as a family. Every week we spent nights out there with friends and family listening to country music and telling stories. I think all four of us eventually agreed that it was one of the best decisions Riley and I had ever made! Looking back, I am so grateful we have those memories!"

-Burke Estes
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Riley Was Lucky

3/2/2021

 

"Riley had the whole package – intelligent, handsome, creative, loveable, and lucky. He was like a sponge wanting to learn new things, especially if it was going to be fun. Several years ago, we took Riley to his first horse race at Oaklawn Park. We gave him $20 to bet. He bet the first race and didn’t win. He asked how to read the program. I showed him how to read stats on the horses running in each race and some tips to look for. He held on to his money and did not bet until tenth race, the Arkansas Derby. He never said a word about betting. When the Derby was over, he said his horse came in 2nd and he had bet it to win, place, and show. He won over $100 on his bet. The winning horse paid less than half of what he won on the place horse. Riley was the big winner that day."

​Love, Nonna
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