The calendar flips to February, and I feel it before I see it.
February 8th.
Seventeen years.
Grief doesn’t follow the rules of time—but neither does love. And this date has taught me both.
If you’ve lost someone, you might know this feeling too: the days leading up to the anniversary often carry more weight than the day itself. The body remembers before the mind catches up. For me, it’s not just February. April and June join the chorus. The first half of the year has never been gentle.
But today, I don’t want to sit only in the ache of the date.
Today, I want to talk about who Jack was before this date changed everything.
Jack, Before the Loss
Jack was larger than life—the kind of man who could sell ice cubes to Eskimos and somehow make you feel grateful for the purchase. He had an easy way about him. A natural pull. People just… gathered around him.
No drama.No gossip.No score-keeping.
Just connection.
When I think back, I don’t remember the heaviness that seems to cloud so much of the world now. Maybe that’s nostalgia. Or maybe it’s because Jack lived simply—intentionally—even while building a full life.
He wanted the farm life.The family life.The hunting life.The working-with-your-hands life.Friday nights on the patio with a beer and good friends.
Jack was a good old boy with big dreams and steady values. College wasn’t his thing (and he’d be the first to tell you that), but work ethic? Loyalty? Showing up? He mastered those.
He started in a warehouse job in 1991 and worked his way through corporate changes, buyouts, and new names—eventually building a career at HP, the same company he’d unknowingly started with all along.
What I didn’t fully realize until later was how far his reach extended.
After Jack passed, I read through messages on CaringBridge. People I barely knew—some I had never met—shared stories of how Jack had impacted their lives. His humor. His kindness. His way of making people feel seen.
I always knew he was special.
But grief has a way of revealing legacy in bold print.
The Words People Left Behind
In his final days, friends wrote things like:
* “The team calls are just not the same without your quiet humor and words of wisdom.”
* “I miss our chats—now I have to pay a therapist.”
* “Any time I was around him, all we did was laugh.”
* “I have never met such a nice, considerate, jovial, and ornery person.”
* “Our world is a better place because of your insight, humor, inspiration, and love.”
Those words still stop me.
Because legacy isn’t built in grand gestures.It’s built in everyday presence.In how you make people feel when you walk into a room.And in how deeply you’re missed when you’re gone.
Seventeen Years Later
Seventeen years have passed, and I don’t take a single moment for granted.
I don’t share Jack’s story for sympathy.I share it because he deserves to be remembered.Because love doesn’t expire.Because stories carry people forward.
Jack is missed because he loved big and lived big.
In just 37 years, he built a life that mattered—from the farm to our boat storage business, from the fire department to the friendships he poured himself into. He wanted it all. And he gave it all.
His daughter misses him.His friends miss him.His community still feels his absence.And I carry him with me—in quiet moments, in laughter, in the way I choose to live.
And Today, We Remember Gary Too
February 8th also holds another name.
Gary—Jack’s dad.
He’s been gone three years now. And yes, he passed on the exact same date as his son—14 years apart.
Coincidence?I don’t believe so.
Gary was a force of nature. A fixer. A giver. A man who believed anything could be repaired with enough tape and determination. He loved fiercely. Taught generously. Lived fully.
I picture reunions now—not endings.Jack and Gary.Garret.Family and friends gathered in a way we can’t yet imagine.
A Closing Thought
As another February 8th comes around, I’m reminded of this truth:
Love and legacy don’t fade.They evolve.
They live on in stories.In lessons.In the way we choose to show up.
So if you take anything from today, let it be this—
Love big.Live big.And never take a single moment for granted.
