May 21, 1987. The day I will never forget.

May 21, 1987 is a day that I will never forget. I remember it like yesterday. I was working at KIUL Radio in Garden City, KS. I worked the evening on air shift at the station. I had been playing baseball with some friends of mine and left the ballpark for work. I got out of the car and started walking in to the station. My mom and brother met me at the door and my mom said "you can't work tonight!" I said "yeah I can, I am scheduled to!" She said "NO! You can't! There has been an accident and your Grandma Hubbard is dead." I collapsed and started crying like crazy. I could not believe it. My brother and mom were crying, too. My dad was out of town when he got the news. He got back to Garden and then we headed immediately to Colorado.

My Aunt Peg was in the accident with my Grandma. She had burns all over her body. She was in the burn unit at the Hospital in Denver. We went right to the hospital to see her. I remember just being able to touch her in certain parts of the body that weren't burned. I wanted so bad to hug her and tell her how much I loved her and that we were all there for her, but I would hurt her if I did. I can remember talking to her and her responding by moving. I honestly thought that she was not going to make it, either. I was so scared. She proved how strong she was and fought through all of that adversity and is here today. She is by far the strongest and most inspirational person I know. I don't know if I could have the strength to go through all of the surgeries and pain, but she has done it. Love you lots, Aunt Peg!

My Grandma Hubbard was a very special person to me. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of her. She was someone that would listen to me. It's very hard to find someone that will sit down and listen to you. I remember spending time with her in the summer. It was a lot of fun. We would go up to the camp and spend some time. I would help her and Grandpa Howard trim the paths and trails up by the camp. I loved sitting in their kitchen at the house with Grandpa, watching him eat his chips and cheese whiz while drinking his beer. He would tell us joke after joke and Grandma would laugh, even though she had already heard them a million times before.

The last time I got to spend any time with Grandma was the Fall of 1986. My dad and I took some time off and went up to Glenwood to help Grandma winterize her house. It was a nice time. I remember she made us a great dinner (as usual) and we all watched the Broncos Monday Night Football game against the New York Jets. The Broncos were 6-0 going into that game. They lost that game to the Jets 22-10, but they did end up going to the Super Bowl that season. I am not going to go into any more details of that Super Bowl, though. Another date that always comes to mind is January 25, 1998. That is the day that the Denver Broncos won their first ever Super Bowl. I wanted so bad for my Grandma to see the Broncos win one. That was one of the first things that I thought of after the game. She would have been so happy to see that.

I know that I have typed a lot here. I just wanted to share some of my memories of the greatest person that I have ever known. I am so happy that my Grandma didn't have to suffer after her accident. My aunt Peg has suffered so much, but has proven how tough she is and how important family and friends are in a time of tragedy. I love you Peg. You are an inspiration for everyone and Grandma would be so proud of you. You have been a trooper through all of this.

Grandma, I know that you are looking down at me right now. I wish that you could be here to see my beautiful kids and my new wife and wonderful family. They would have loved to have met you. I tell Madison and Zach about you all of the time. I love you and miss you so much. I wish that you were still here.