University of Dayton - MyLife

On Garrett and Daytona

This year's trip Dayton to Daytona ended abruptly so I have been thinking long and hard about what to write about it and I think I finally have figured out what to tell write.

At the event this year a very good friend of mine passed away, Garrett Loiselle. It was not due to excessive drinking, I want to make that clear. A number of media exposures have alluded to that and have greatly angered myself and a number others. What happened was a complete accident and it is very important that everyone knows this. Something happened with his heart; he passed out and never woke up.

I've never lost a friend. I've stopped talking to friends and broken up with girlfriends but I have never had an experience that was so final. We went to the hospital the night it happened and I have never felt such strong emotions before. Everything from anger to sadness and even happiness; because he lived such a great life; ran through me. I didn't cry that night until 6am when I went to the pool deck and called my parents. When I finally did it all came out. From that point on I do not believe I slept more than 7 hours for the next 3 days. My family and friends where amazing though, my sister even offered to fly from Virginia if I needed her to which helped a lot to know.

The next day a memorial was put on. The tour company, Breakaway Tours, and SGA (Student Government Association) did an amazing job putting it on. They allowed John, Lindsey, myself and all of our friends to be involved. We selected some pictures and music for the memorial (DMB was the order for the day for that was one of Garrett's favorite bands and sparked our friendship freshman year). In addition they where helpful in every way possible by getting us water, tissues, even a shoulder. UD had a priest present and grief counselors which as well helped many.

When the memorial came things got really tough. All day I had been concentrating on calming others and helping to get our part of the memorial together so I had not really released anything since earlier that morning. The moment the music hit and all of our friends where together though every emotion I felt hit hard. I hadn't been to church in a very long time but the moment the priest began speaking I found a great deal of comfort.

We were all allowed to get up and speak. When it was my turn I got on stage and was amazed by what I saw. Throughout the ceremony I had not taken the time to turn around and see how many people where there. When I got onstage I saw that every person that had come to Daytona was present. The balconies where full and the crowd reached all the way to the back of the pool deck (easily 3/4 of a football field). I had not really thought of what to say and found myself somewhat rambling. I really don't remember everything I said but as I was talking there was a feeling of support that was amazing. An entire community had shown up because a fellow student had passed away. Most of the people there didn't know Garrett, had never seen him, never talked to him. Yet they all showed up simply to give support and help. As I got off of the stage I felt much better. From that point on I barley cried. I had said my goodbye in my speech and really felt that somewhere Garrett heard me. I know that sounds sappy, but it's my blog so deal with it.

One final thing to say about the memorial was one student got up to talk who didn?t even know Garrett. He got up and simply said he didn't know him but wanted to show his support. He gave a very eloquent speech and by the simple act helped a lot for those who were hurting. I had seen many moments of the UD community in four years. I had talked about it on countless tours. I had heard numerous people talk about it. But the moment that guy got on stage to talk I felt it in a completely new way. Again it sounds sappy but in that moment I had never been more grateful than to be a UD grad because I knew that no matter what support I needed I would have it.

We left Daytona that afternoon and drove through the night. Thank God for my friend AJ driving the first 6 or 7 hours or else I don't think we would have made it without stopping at a hotel. Yours truly nabbed the 2am to 7:30am shift. I was a beast. Not to be cocky but I was a total driving machine. We got short cut directions from a truck driver. While that situation was as eerie as a horror movie set up, the directions worked and we shaved 3 or 4 hours off the trip. Boo ya.

We went to Garrett's funeral the following week. I'll skip details here. All I want to say is while the memorial in Daytona was about our grief his viewing and funeral, while sad, where definitely a celebration of Garrett's amazing life. At his wake I feel people had as many laughs as tears as everyone told there own personal Garrett story. One even came up about my girlfriend Lindsey and Garrett that was an incredibly embarrassing and one that I will never stop reminding her of. We did not go to the actual burial as by that time we were very much worn out and had really said our goodbyes. Also I had never been to a burial and really by this point had been through enough ?first time? experiences.

I know this is turning into a long blog but this was a moment in my life I know years from now I will see as somewhat pivotal. Garrett was an amazing person. He was my next door neighbor freshman year, an econ partner sophomore year and just an amazing friend all four years. Heck, I even started dating an ex of his junior year with his approval mind you as well (a fact I never ever let him forget). He was involved in my houses graduation party and received an award for being the best basketball player that night. He was soft spoken and incredibly confident. He gave me a lot of courage freshman year and taught me a lot. He never got to see his beloved Cubs win the series but his Bears at least got to the Super Bowl. He was always kind, never angry and the king of accidental comedy. I'm going to really miss him, which goes without saying. I'm not a very good writer so I'm going to leave it at that.

Jun 19, 2007 1:19 PM Permalink