Learning from loss.

16 year old Andrew Duerkop, of Eau Claire Died at Luther hospital in Eau Claire. He died on Thursday April 9th 2009 at 8:47pm but was kept on life support until the next day.

Andrew I went through the intersection you were hit at, five years ago today, and I was speeding... as I noticed my speed and adjusted to a more legal level it hit me that today was the "anniversary" of your untimely death, I use the quotes because I don't believe anniversary should be the correct term to use for the date of someone's passing. you see, that school year I was in the same math class as you, two seats behind and one row to the left I was the shy, soak in the world's sights, and sounds without making any of my own type. and frankly you weren't... I despised it at first, I was in class to learn algebra and geometry and you were in the very same class to slow down the process. all fun and games, the class clown even, but the first day you didn't show up to class anymore there was a deafening silence. the sound was more absent than the seat a knight's move away from mine. and the more the days went by, the more that I learned about you after your passing it seemed that the hole in the room, and the noise was being filled in. I regret not being more open when I had the chance, I regret not learning more about you, from you. You donated your organs, saved a man with congestive heart failure, and made your legacy of generosity extend beyond the grave. so now, five years later I'm writing the words I was never able to say, God bless you Andrew Duerkop, you've saved more than one life with your generosity.