Last night I got to experience something amazing. Beautiful. Inspiring. And I really hope I don’t have to experience it again for a really long time.
A few weeks ago I wrote about a teacher/coach from Blake’s high school. Mr. Ritter. Beloved Jason Ritter. When I wrote about him, he was in hospice fighting his last against cancer. A week and a half ago he passed away. This man, at 33 years of age, had an enormous impact on this community, both at school and beyond. He had an enormous smile and an incredibly positive attitude that motived and inspired others. He loved his wife and one year old son with everything in him. He made every stranger feel like a friend and made it a point to know and remember your name as soon as he met you. He commanded respect because of his integrity, but could relate to his students so well because of his fierce sense of humor.
The list goes on and on of all the things this man was and did. But the thing that made him stand out most was his love for God. He deeply, passionately, whole-heartedly loved God. And it showed all over his face and poured out of his life. It was the reason for his contagious smile and “it’s always a good day” attitude. It was the reason behind everything he did.
Last night was his memorial service – the celebration of a life lived to the fullest. A life that impacted so many. And those many showed up last night. There must have been at least a thousand people gathered together last night to commemorate this beloved man. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house, but there also wasn’t one person who wasn’t smiling and laughing with the stories that friends, colleagues and students shared.
Those of us who were parents of the basketball teams sat together and watched as these young men wept and hugged each other, united by the grief that they could barely comprehend or accept. They truly loved and respected and now missed this man. And instead of suffering alone, they were sharing it together.
Our high school is called Legend. Part of our mantra is “We are family. We are one.” Last night, those words were lived out in reality. A community touched by the loss of a great man. A community united by the life of a great man.
