Roll The Bones

Chad Carr, 5-year-old grandson of former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, passed away today after battling brain cancer for over a year. Seth Fisher of MGoBlog wrote this. Read it. Seriously, read it. Here’s the link again if you missed it the first time. I don’t know if there’s a “right” thing that can be said at a time like this, but that seemed like it.

People will look to different places for answers at times when there don’t appear to be any. But sometimes, man… Sometimes there just aren’t any. How can there be when a kid passes away at 5 after spending 20% of his short life battling a terrible disease? When two other young children lose their little brother? When parents have to go through something like this while attempting to remain strong for the sakes of their children?

Sometimes, man…

I’ve lost three grandparents to cancer, and it hurts. I lost an aunt to cancer, too, though she passed when I was only a couple years old, so I never got to know her and don’t really have any memories of her. It still hurts, though, in a different way. It hurts that this freaking disease took her before I got to know her. It’s that “What could have been,” you know? What was my aunt really like? My dad has told me, but his accounts can’t replace the real thing. What impact could she have had on my life? What could I have learned from her?

It’s that “What could have been” that makes the loss of Chad so much more tragic. That he’s not going to get to grow up and do great things and make his mark on the world. For all the hurt cancer has caused me and my family, my heart truly goes out to the Carrs because I can’t even fathom what this hurt is like.

Sometimes, man…

In his short time on Earth, Chad inspired many with his courage and toughness. There were outpourings of support from the Michigan community and beyond. Michigan’s football players wrote #ChadTough on the backs of their helmets and team captains Joe Kerridge and Joe Bolden brought Chad the game ball from their game against Indiana. Michigan State and Ohio State’s football teams wore ChadTough stickers on their helmets this past weekend. Michigan and Ohio State’s basketball coaches decorated the Carrs’ house for an early Christmas for Chad, since his condition had deteriorated to the point where he was in hospice care and may not make it to the one in December. His name and his fighting spirit will live on through the ChadTough Foundation, but that doesn’t change the fact that his time on Earth was far too short.

Sometimes, man…

We want answers in life. It’s human nature. We want to know why things happen and when we can’t figure out why things happen, we drive ourselves nuts searching and searching for an answer that isn’t there. In those times, we have to remember Neil Peart’s word that Geddy Lee vocalized…

Why does it happen?

Because it happens.

Roll the bones.

 

R.I.P. Chad Carr, 2010-2015

We may never stop this from happening, but we can try. Here’s that link to the ChadTough Foundation again.

#ChadTough

 

Twitter: @KSchroeder2325