Hello everyone,

Thought I'd give this blog thing a try. As you all know, the man to the left is one of my best friends. And most of you know by now that he was suddenly taken from this world. It is a very hard thing to accept, losing someone who was so close to us and who was such a kind, fun loving person and one who was in better shape than myself.

It wasn't until after high school that Andy became my best friend. We were always friends and never had any beefs with each other. We hung out with the same crowd (which is pretty much your only option growing up in St. Clair!) and had a lot of fun together. But after high school it seemed that the majority of people went their separate ways. Andy got into bull riding and having a good time with life. He would keep in touch and stop by every now and then to talk smart and drink a couple of beers. Through the years Andy became closer and became a part of our lives. Cheryl and I considered him a part of our family. He came to visit us at the hospital for each birth of our children and was at all of their birthday parties. Our kids knew him as Uncle Andy. And I don't think this was uncommon, as I am sure that it was the same with all of his friends. He helped many of us with moving, reshingling, remodeling, or whatever we needed some help with. Within the last couple of years Andy started working out and worked on getting healthier. And he looked great! He got into mountain biking with some friends from work and started running and lifting weights as well. I talked him into teaming up to compete in an adventure race this last spring with us and he talked me into running the 5k at St. Clair Days this summer. It was a blast and I was looking forward to starting a new tradition and running in these races. I will carry these memories and the thousand of other memories that I could share. But most importantly I will live on and take the most important memory Andy gave me, how to be a friend. Thank you Andy, for wanting to be my friend and for becoming more than just a friend. You were like a brother, always there, no matter where you were. You will remain in our hearts forever.