Love like Hudson Lindow

Listening to his favorite hip-hop artists and eating CupBop, hundreds of attendees celebrated Hudson Lindow’s life, lingering till the very end of the memorial.  

“It was an army of young people who came to help,” his mother, Kim Buckley, said. “I thought it was really beautiful.”  

Hudson was a freshman at the University of Idaho, born and raised in Boise where he graduated from Timberline High School in 2021. 

Rather than a somber memorial, his mother planned for something more fitting.  

“He was so young, it was really important to me that it was a celebration, because that’s who he was,” Kim Buckley said.  

It was at this celebration of life where stepdad Merrill Buckley realized how well-connected Hudson was despite being just 19 at the time of his passing. His service saw people from a variety of schools and with different associations to Hudson.  

“He really bridged the gap with all walks of life,” he said. “People who are more marginalized, people who were having gender issues, he didn’t care.” 

Not just a social butterfly, Hudson was willing to lend a helping hand. When a friend originally from Korea was spending time alone in an apartment during high school, Hudson insisted on taking him in. 

“He was always bringing someone home,” Kim Buckley said. “I always just loved his heart.” 

During the difficult task of sorting through Hudson’s room, a sticky note was found on the back of his door reading “Are you ready for the people to see you? Are you your best self?” 

His mother had an especially close bond with Hudson.  

“(I miss) all of our conversations, his smile, his heart,” Kim Buckley said. “He was kind of my person, you know what I mean? We just got each other.”  

Hudson’s godmother, Candace Gibson, has been friends with his mother since before he was born. She said the tight-knit relationship Hudson had with his mom was unlike any she had seen.  

“I kind of used to tease her a little bit,” she said. “I didn’t know very many college kids, especially boys, that call their mom every day.”   

When he was in junior high, she remembers a time she was picking Hudson up from school. Unabashedly, Hudson yelled from across the parking lot “Candace, I love you!”  

“He was always very good at just being himself, not worrying about what other people think,” she said. “That’s why he had so many friends.”  

With his passing, Candace Gibson has found it hard to lose someone younger than her. She hopes to carry on in his memory. 

“I mean, really, at the end of the day, when you’re gone, nobody talks about your political affiliation or looks at your work,” she said. “It’s the impression you left on people and the relationships you have with people. I think (my husband and I) are gonna be better about prioritizing them.” 

In the wake of his passing, Kim Buckley believes Hudson would want people to be their best selves. 

“He would want people to love like Hudson,” she said. “If someone is feeling down or sad or left out, be kind. If there’s an adventure to be had, go do it.”  

Hudson always wanted to travel, with a friend teaching him Korean. Having grown up in Boise, he wanted to explore other ways of life, making friends everywhere he went.  

To honor this, god sister Ashley Gibson has been a part of spreading Hudson’s ashes in the Caribbean, in addition to other places.  

Since his passing, “Love like Hudson” has become a motto among family and friends.  

“It never felt like he was trying to be somewhere else,” stepbrother Parker Buckley said. “Like when he was with family, it always seemed like that’s where he wanted to be and he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world.” 

Parker Buckley remembers a camping trip to Montana that showed Hudson’s more mischievous side. The pair went on an adventure, riding on four-wheelers as the family stayed in the cabin. 

While driving on a small hill, Parker Buckley fell down, rolling down the hill with the four-wheeler.  

“Had the four-wheeler rolled like one more time, it probably would have crushed me,” he said. 

Hudson helped Parker up and they pushed the four-wheeler back together. 

To avoid losing their driving privileges, both Parker Buckley and Hudson promised not to tell their family. It became a secret they kept for five years.  

“When they asked what took so long, we just said we were adventuring,” Parker Buckley laughed. “And I had this massive bruise on my stomach for a really long time.” 

As one of the most outgoing kids Aaron Magalsky knew at Timberline High School, Hudson befriended him despite being a year below Magalsky. 

Recognizable a mile away, Hudson’s defining feature was his smile.  

“He always had this beaming smile on his face,” Magalsky said. “(After his passing) I would close my eyes and I would still see just his smile because it was so radiant.”  

Personable and kind, Hudson was years ahead of his age in Magalsky’s eyes. He likely left a larger impact than he ever realized. 

“He’s the kind of guy that I feel honored to have had the pleasure to know,” Magalsky said. “Because he made everybody’s lives around him better.” 

Haadiya Tariq can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @haadiyatariq