On September 17^th, he left us last year. I’ll never forget where I was when I got the call from my mom. I was just getting back into the swing of things at college for my sophomore year at UWEC. My buddies Kyle, Mitch and Tyler wanted me to come over and play some video games for a while since we hadn’t seen each other at all over the summer. I wasn’t in Mitch and Kyle’s room for all of fifteen minutes when I got the call from my mom telling me that my Grandpa Rick had a heart attack (at least that’s what we thought at the time) and they were sending him from Hayward to the hospital in Eau Claire. My grandpa was having health issues for some time over the past few years and I figured this was something he’d be able to bounce back from no problem. I was concerned about him, but I figured I would be chatting with him in no time again. I hung out with the guys a little bit longer and then I made my way over to the hospital at around 11:30 pm to meet my mom, Aunt Tammy and my Grandma Sandy.

I got to the hospital a little bit before the rest of them showed up and had some time to myself. I plopped down on the cold concrete of the parking garage and rested my back against the wall. With my mind going all over the place, I put my head in my hands and began to pray. I’ve never had someone so close to me be at the risk of passing away and I didn’t know what to do or how to handle it. Praying always seemed to calm me down and I told God that I trusted him with whatever plan he had in store for my family and I.

The cavalry had finally arrived and I knew I had to keep it together in front of my mom and especially in front of my grandma. She needed us now more than ever and I didn’t want to let her know that I was scared as well. I tried giving her a smile when I opened the door of the Explorer and she accepted it graciously.

We tried making our way into the hospital, but I wasn’t too familiar with this hospital's layout or any hospitals for that matter. I’d have better luck finding my deer stand in the middle of a record setting blizzard in November than navigating my way around the Eau Claire hospital. After running around for some time, we finally found the ER and they told us to wait for a while and they’d let us know more on his condition soon.

While we were waiting to pass the time we began sharing our favorite stories about grandpa and I learned a lot of new things about the man I thought I knew very well already. My favorite thing about my grandpa was all of the jokes he was telling us grandkids that probably weren’t appropriate for grandkids little ears, but we listened to them welcomingly anyways. Also, I will always remember sitting down in front of the TV at grandma and grandpa’s house with a melting ice cream cup from the Schwan’s man in my hand and some sort of cop show on the television. Grandpa and I spent quite a bit of time together when I was younger, whether that was taking me on construction jobs with him or spending time outside at the bonfires he and grandma always used to throw. I guess as time went on and I got older, my schedule became crazier with playing three sports and I didn’t make as much time for my grandparents as I should have.

While we were still sharing stories, the doctor came in and it was time to tell us the news. As cliché as this is going to sound, it was like the air was sucked out of the room. Everyone’s hearts were heavy. The doctor told us that my Grandpa Rick was brain dead. He wasn’t responding to anything. Any light they flashed by his eyes or any poking they tried to do. My grandpa was gone. Seeing my grandma next to his bedside saying her last goodbyes and wishing she had more time with him was one of the hardest things to see my grandma go through. I said my final goodbyes to my grandpa, hugged my teary-eyed mom and grandma and I left the hospital.

It was around 2:30 in the morning when I left the hospital parking garage and I must have driven around Eau Claire for a solid hour or so with the radio off. I talked to myself. I talked with God. I talked to grandpa. I still had a lot of questions I needed to ask him. I needed to get out whatever emotions I had bottled up inside of me. Once I finally got back to my dorm room, I set my alarm for 8 a.m. so I would be ready to go to my 9 a.m. Spanish class in time. I thought about not going to class, but if there’s one thing my grandpa instilled in me it was to have a strong work ethic. So I carried on. We all had to.

Life hasn’t been easy without Grandpa Rick here this past year, but the best thing we can do as a family to honor his memory is to be happy and be proud Americans. Put our hand over our hearts and work for every dollar we ever make. Bring loved ones together and make everyone feel welcome and part of a community. It’s what grandpa would want.