By Chris Evans, Press editorIt is with a heavy, hurting heart that I pick up my pen this week to write about something that no parent, grandparent, friend or community should have to endure – the untimely death of a young, vibrant boy.
Twelve-year-old Jake Hodge, the son of Denis and Shannon Hodge and beloved by the entire community and beyond, died in his sleep early Saturday morning at his home, the cause of which has yet to be determined.
It is among the most tragic and difficult things we face as humans, to bury a loved one. When it's a young child, the task is seemingly insurmountable.
When one of our best and brightest is snatched away far sooner than we, armed only with our earthly minds, can find the logic from which to prescribe an understanding, it is unbearably painful. As a father of a nine-year-old daughter, I know the challenges many of you are dealing with in trying to comfort your own children at this time. My children, although truly too young to understand the magnitude of this matter, are nonetheless sadden. With that sadness comes a heightened sense of mortality and questions regarding heaven and death. Such trials in life shake our spirituality just as it does the faith and beliefs just now blooming in our children.
"Can you hug people in heaven?" asked my daughter.
All we know about heaven is that it's waiting for believers who have been granted a pass through the grace of God. From that point on, there is no user's manual that explains what the afterlife holds.
What I know is that Jake Hodge embodied goodness and wholesomeness, and he possessed a competitive spirit that provided him with an intestinal fortitude so very uncommon in pre-teens.
Over the past few days, I have heard countless stories regarding Jake's short time on this earth. While many are chiseled into my mind forever, one stands above the others because it speaks precisely to whom Jake Hodge had become in his young life.
The person telling this was not the original eye-witness, but told it second hand. It seems as though Jake, a stellar athlete, was playing a pickup basketball game recently with some other young boys and some young adults. One of the older fellows was cursing and ranting about issues that arose during the game. Jake took the ball, held it under his arm and told the foul-mouthed opponent this: "It doesn't take much of a man to use those types of words, but it takes a very big man not to."
Yes, Jake Hodge excelled in athletics. He was a national qualifier in youth rodeo, he was known far and wide for his play on the baseball diamond, the basketball court and running with a football. But more importantly, Jake excelled in life. He was an excellent student, community volunteer and highly respected among his fellow middle schoolers.
Our task is not to ask why he was taken so soon, but to learn from his life and to live ours the way that he had begun to live his. For such a young lad, he cast a very long shadow.
We must not dwell on finding a reason for this tragedy. We must have faith that somehow there is indeed a design to it all. In life, we are not guaranteed fairness. Just like when we hear that called third strike and step out of the batter's box. We go back to the dugout and have faith that it will be made right at some point later in the game.
In sports, Jake Hodge made his teams better. His drive and passion lifted teammates and caused them to elevate their own play. He made his school better by showing that a young boy with seemingly everything going for him could also be courteous, obedient and studious. He made his community better because he embodied the very genius, faith and talent that makes us all proud.
Death will not stop a spirit like Jake Hodge. Heaven is undeniably a better place now that he is there.
