A Fine Young Man

Our older boys play baseball.  They have for years.  As many of you know, Daniel was one of their...if not their...biggest fan.  He liked to call balls and strikes from the sidelines.  His animated way of doing so, often got the attention of the umpires and before long he was buddies with them.  They could never resist that smile!  :)  I can hear his loud, raspy voice saying "Hahhhh" now along with his little pointer finger going out, calling a strike.  I miss this.

Drew has started to play games again with his High School team this week.  Last year, he missed the entire end of his season after Daniel died as our family went away for several weeks after the funeral.  The day that Daniel died, Drew's coach sent out this letter to the team.  The words we still hold dear to our hearts and thank God that Drew has such a wonderful coach and team to play High School baseball with...

A FINE YOUNG MAN 

Daniel Jackson was a fine young man and it always gave me joy to see him in the stands watching us play.  It was a privilege to know him.  He fought hard through the past few months and even though he was very young, any man can respect the full effort Daniel gave to the very end.  This season for this team has been about giving our very best effort at all times and no matter what the score says at the end, if we done that, then we’ve succeeded.  By this definition the life Daniel lived was a complete success.

Today when he departed this world to the “far better” world, for the first time in his life he experienced complete health and perfect peace.  Our mourning now is not for this young man who now sees Jesus “as He is”.  Rather what we now mourn is our personal loss and the burden of sorrow that our friends bear as they mourn for son and brother.  As deep as our grief may feel let us remember to follow the teaching of scripture and sorrow with hope.  Our hope in Christ means hope in the resurrection.  We have not seen Daniel for the last time, rather it is just a parting for a short while until that glorious future reunion.

In response to your sorrow you may wonder what you can do to help.  Here are a couple of things to consider.  First, just be a friend to Drew.  A simple text or email shows you care for him and that often is enough to lighten his load just a bit.   Don’t worry about the perfect thing to say, there really is no such thing - just say what’s on your heart.  Secondly, honor Daniel’s fight for life.  Stand tall as young men by living your life with zeal, courage, honor, dignity and strength.  To do this honors God, honors Daniel and shows respect to the Jackson family.

Coach Jackson and Drew will not be with us this weekend.  Our hearts will be knit with theirs and we will miss having them with us.  We will do our best to honor both them and Daniel by standing tall and playing as a team.  I believe Coach Jackson and Drew will want us to do this and I believe Daniel would be happy to know we played to honor his life he lived for the Lord here on earth. 

God bless,

Coach Hasenmyer

What a wonderful letter.  Words we will always treasure.  I agree 100% that the life Daniel lived was a complete success.  And he had great advice for anyone seeking to love on grieving hearts.

The team had a game the afternoon of Daniel's Celebration of Life on April 7th, and this is the photo they sent to Drew after attending the service that day...

These were photos taken of Drew with his team after the service...

And here are some photos of Daniel from Drew's baseball games he attended...he liked to eat lots of lollipops (and ice when it was hot!) while watching his brothers play...

And he liked saying "hi" to all the teammates...

(Here he was telling them he was wearing his sisters sweatshirt)

I miss scenes like this one.

Daniel, you truly were "A Fine Young Man".