A bittersweet goodbye

Life has a way of humbling you at some of your highest moments. I remember back in high school, I was enjoying a summer vacation and was on a trip in Minnesota. It was a mission trip for church where we helped those that were less fortunate while hanging out with friends and strangers from other parishes.

I had just finished my sophomore year of high school. I was going to be a starter on the baseball team next year which was something I had been looking forward to for two years as I sat behind older kids. (Thanks for graduating on time, Tyler Empey.)

Anyway, in the middle of the trip to Minnesota, I received a phone call notifying me that my grandma had passed away. She had been battling diabetes and was on dialysis for years before she had passed away.

Her husband and my grandpa was obviously devastated. He had taken care of her for years and didn’t know what to do with himself after her passing. He was the type of person that would lay down anything to help us out. He and my grandma made trip after trip to watch us play baseball, play in band concerts, musicals, madrigals and any other event you could imagine.

This week, as my fiance, Kaitlyn, and I were coming off the high of a bridal shower, we heard that my grandpa had passed away. A man that had given us so many great memories now rejoined his wife in heaven.

It was a bittersweet moment. The man was so supportive of my brothers and I and even extended his kindness to my fiance and her family. Even as Kaitlyn and I went through a hard time in our relationship and neither of us believed we would make it through, my grandpa did.

He invited us down to his house where we would pick him up and go to the local supper club. He showed us pictures of grandma from the mid 1900s and told us stories about her. He loved just chatting with people and telling stories. That’s the kind of unconditional love and support he showed people for over 90 years.

After hearing about his passing, I thought about what the last thing I had said to him was. Two weeks ago, we had taken a half-hour or so away from my cousin’s graduation party to chat with him. We walked him through the process of RSVPing to our wedding coming up in a couple of months.

Now, it’s going to be a challenge to get through such a happy moment without thinking about him and his contribution to us as a couple and to the lives of those around him.

We can take pride knowing that he helped get us to that big day and would be so proud of what we were able to accomplish.

R.I.P. Lester O. Hogden 1931 - 2022

SPEEDING

THROUGH

L

IFE

NEAL H OGDEN EDITOR