Last Tuesday started out like any other day, until about 2:15 in the afternoon. My brother Shane, and I had just chased a cow up to the barn with the two 4 wheelers and we both saw Grandpa backing out of his garage and heading down our long driveway. We both knew he was heading into town for his afternoon coffee and thought nothing of it. Shane and I went back down the pasture to get the calf and then brought it back up to the barn. We were in the barn trying to get the calf to drink when Shane's pager went off (he's a volunteer fireman). He tossed it to me so I could turn it down so the cow wouldn't get startled. I listened to hear what was coming across the pager when I realized that the address that was being reported was only about two miles from the farm. They said there was a vehicle that had gone off the road and the person inside was unconscious, and that they couldn't get the doors open and needed something to break the windows. I told Shane that he needed to go right away, that we'd probably be the closest to the accident. Neither of us even considered it to be Grandpa, because over the pager they were saying it was a female. Shane took off in his pick-up and sped down the road to the scene. I ran to Mom's house because I realized I still had Shane's pager and thought if I got the address wrong I needed to be by one of our business band radios to let Shane know. I was standing by my Mom's door and we were both listening to what was coming across the pager when the phone rang. Immediately I had a gut feeling it was Grandpa. My Mom answered the phone and she couldn't hear anything but beeping noise. She hung up and the phone rang again immediately. It was Shane and all he said was - "It's Grandpa!" She hung up and told me and we (Mom, Nikia and I) got in my suburban and speeded to the scene. I told Nikia "Do not get out of this vehicle, you have to stay in here!" and then Mom and I jumped out and ran out to where the pick up was (out in a field about 35 yards). As we were running out there, Shane and another guy were just pulling Grandpa out of the pickup and laying him down in the field.

To back up just a little bit...when Shane got to the scene he had it in his head that it was a female and never even thought twice about what the vehicle looked like. He ran to the vehicle and another guy was there talking to 911 and handed Shane a big 'ol bar to try to break the window. This other guy had already tried to hit the window about 20 times and couldn't get it to break. So Shane grabbed the bar and went to swing it and that's when he first noticed it was Grandpa. It totally startled him. He had to hit the window 3 times before he could get it to break. He unlocked the doors, ran around to the drivers side, opened the door and started to holler and shake Grandpa. He was still unconscious. He tried for a pulse and couldn't get one. Then they pulled him out of the pick-up.

Mom and I stood two feet from Grandpa and watched as they hooked up the defibrillator and as my brother tried to do CPR on him. The defibrillator shocked him once but still no heart beat. They continued to try CPR until the ambulance arrived, which seemed like forever, but I was told later it got there pretty quickly. They rolled him onto a flat board and carried him to the ambulance where they continued to do CPR all the way to town.

By the time I got back to my Suburban Nikia was screaming terribly. She had sat in the vehicle and watched everything. My Mom just held and hugged her trying to calm her down as I was driving trying to catch up to the ambulance. Shane had also jumped in my vehicle too. Nikia just kept on repeating "Grandpa's dead, Grandpa's dead." I figured I had probably just ruined my daughters life for what she had just witnessed. While I was in the field I was trying to call Trevor but couldn't reach him. My sister finally reached him and he caught up behind us. We pulled over so he could take Nikia - I didn't want to take her to the hospital. Trevor said she just kept repeating the same thing over and over. He asked her what she all saw and she described everything very specifically. It took her a long time before she finally settled down.

When we all finally got to the hospital, they informed us that they never did get a heart beat and that he was gone. It was so hard to accept. He wasn't sick or anything. His morning had been just like every other morning. I had just seen his pick-up leave the farm.

This has been so hard for me not only because I constantly see flashes in my head of them pulling him from the truck, my own brother breathing into his mouth, - just everything!

I grew up seeing Grandpa literally everyday. He only lived about 150 yards from my house. I have countless memories of my Grandpa and now, just like that, he's gone. My Grandpa was a real cowboy. He lived and breathed the cowboy life. It wasn't an act or for show, it's who he was. Anybody can wear a cowboy hat, but it doesn't make them a cowboy. He was the only true cowboy I've ever known. I miss him so much and every day is still really hard for me.

I want to thank you all for your very kind thoughts and prayers. It really means more than you'll ever know. You are all so very special to me.