119 months into your precious life … 119 months gone today.
It was a dark month. So very dark. Birthdays have not been the same since you left. I have a difficult time with them, including my own. I don’t feel that my years should be celebrated if you aren’t here to move forward another living year. Such a heavy weight has been lifted since then, but I am still struggling. Always struggling.
Presenting this year’s Chiefs Award was, once again, bittersweet. It has never been “easy.” Last year was the only time in five years that I was able to present it myself. The nerves and anxiety have always been overwhelming, so one of the coaches took over that duty for me. He even choked up when he began reading the qualities the recipient must demonstrate throughout all four years of Chiefs football:
“Morgan Daly Memorial Manitowoc Chiefs Character Award
Established 2022
Created in memory of Morgan Daly, a proud Manitowoc Chiefs player (2008–2010) and team captain.
His passion for football continued through his high school years, and after serving in the United States Marine Corps, Morgan returned to his alma mater as a Strength & Conditioning Coach, helping develop the next generation of athletes.
This award recognizes a Chiefs player who exemplifies the character traits Morgan demonstrated throughout his life, both on and off the field, and carried with him into his service as a United States Marine.
Sacrifice • Compassion • Dedication • Devotion • Drive • Integrity • Respect
Morgan believed in leading by example and living with purpose, always striving to encourage, inspire, and be kind to others. Though he is no longer with us, his legacy continues through the young athletes who demonstrate these same qualities.
Thank you to the Manitowoc Chiefs for helping keep Morgan’s memory alive, and congratulations to this year’s recipient:
Henry Kurtzweil“
I’m thankful for the opportunity to have established this award. It is your birthday gift that I give to others. A little piece of you passed forward to another young athlete. And, of course, the $100 to do with as they wish!
I ordered your red velvet cake this year. I just didn’t have the energy to make one. But I did make the Joes for you. Always a hit thru the years.
I feel it’s the decade upon me. Ten years. I don’t think I fully understood what that would mean, or what it would feel like, until now. It is truly pounding its way into my mind, heart, body, and soul.
And your brother turned 34 on the 25th!
I don’t feel like I’m meant to be in this phase of life. I still feel like the mom of young boys, not someone whose children are in their thirties. My mind hasn’t caught up with the decades that have passed. I know the calendar says otherwise, but I still feel so connected to those years, to that life, to the family as it was then. And realizing how much time has passed without you here to experience it is something that destroys me daily.
The season is upon me. The holidays, your sunset, and then the New Year. Another turn of the calendar, another cycle of dates and events to face. It never really ends; it just begins again. And somehow, I’m expected to keep turning those pages, too.
Pray for survival.
I love you.
I miss you.
You should be here.
MoM
