I wanted to write this down because I knew that I would not be able to get through this standing in front of everyone.

As I'm sure you know, Dad's health had been declining for about a year now. And, as most of you know, he was the Brown's number one fan. Running a close second is his good friend Melvin Deere. The Browns, is how I knew his health was declining over the past year. We have split season tickets every year with our friends, the Weikert’s, for as long as I can remember.

Last year, Dad called me before the season even started to tell me that he just couldn't walk well enough to go to the game, and that I needed to find someone to go with me. The fact is he had been struggling going to the games for a couple years now. Unknowingly, I had already gone to the last Brown's game ever with him. I started taking my son, Riley, who had never been to a game and who really wasn't much of a football fan... yet. Dad was so happy that I was now sharing the same experiences with Riley that he had shared with me for all these years. I kept encouraging Dad to go before every home game and told him that I could wheel him in with a wheelchair. He would entertain the thought before each game for the rest of the year, but it never came to fruition.

At the beginning of the season, it was once again time to renew our tickets. He called me and told me that I had to make a decision... continue on without him again or relinquish the tickets. His legs and breathing just weren't strong enough to go anymore. It was a hard decision to make and I was leaning towards letting them go. Not only were they expensive, but without my dad, it just would never be the same for me. After talking with my wife, Heather, and thinking about the conversations I had with Riley at the games we went to this past year, we decided to go ahead and keep them in case this was "the year". I appreciate the Weikert family working with me to keep the tickets. We will continue to get them each year, for as long as I can, so I can continue to make the memories with wife and son. (I'll let them fight over the extra ticket each game week, going forward!)

I know this story is long but this is how I wanted to segue into what I wanted to say to everyone today. My dad touched a lot of lives, and the fact is, he was a role model for not just me, but for many of you. I'd be selfish to beg for him to have more time on this mortal earth. I know that many of you are reflecting on my dad's life. Some were not as lucky and did not get as much, or any quality time with their fathers. For that, I feel the pain for all of you as well.

I spoke with several people after my dad passed, and they provided some valuable insight. One of those I spoke to, was my cousin JD. He doesn’t know that I'm mentioning him here. JD didn't have it easy growing up but he made it his job to give his kids everything he didn't have. Because of that, I know that his father, my Uncle Randy, is watching over him with the biggest, proudest smile a father could have. That's what his father was known for, and some of you here may remember what I'm talking about. But JD said something to me, and it couldn't have come from anyone else. He said "I'm not a counselor by any means, but I can tell you how it felt for me. It won't be real for a while. It's ****ing tough today. And it'll get worse as it sets in. Listening to condolences makes it worse. Nothing anyone is going to say is going to make it feel any better. Something like this changes you for the rest of your life" But what he said next was what really hit home. He said " Don't let it change you in a negative way. Just don't forget the good times and all the great memories." Those words from JD are what inspired me to write this. Thank you, JD and I hope you don't mind that I included you in this.

Everyone has been very kind and asked me to let them know if there's anything they can do. Honestly, there wasn't anything I could think of that could possibly help me through this. My dad has been, and always will be my best friend. My mom is our rock and she's the strongest woman I know. She shoulders so much and I will continue to try to be strong for her.

I think about what JD said to me. When were down and thinking about Dad and missing him, we need to remember the good times. All my memories are in my heart and he will be with me forever.

If you would like to do something for our family, I encourage you to write something about him you'll never forget. Maybe something he did for you or with you. If you have a nice memory about him, please share it with us. No matter what it is, tell us your memories of him.

With that said, I want to leave you all with a final memory of Dad. I know there are a lot of Browns fan here but none can compare to my dad. We got tickets from the Powers family a couple times. Some of you may know, they had front row seats in the end zone, directly between the uprights. It had to have been more than 20 years ago now, because my dad was still drinking. I think we were playing the Patriots that day. As always, we hadn't won many games that season, but we were actually ahead that game. We had just scored a touchdown and the extra point was being kicked right at us. Well, it went directly at Dad's face! He put his hand up to block it and caught his hand in the net at the same time the ball hit his hand. It broke his fingers and his pinky was at a 90 degree angle. He turned to me and "pull them straight". As I reached over to straighten my dad's broken fingers, the guy in the row right behind us reached over, grabbed my arm and said "I'm a doctor.. do NOT grab his fingers!" The ushers came and got Dad and took him down into the Brown's locker room and ultimately the training room. The trainers reset his fingers properly and taped him up and told him he needed to go to the hospital but he came back to the seats where me, my brother and Melvin were waiting. We told my dad we understood if he wanted to call it a day and go to the hospital, but he refused to leave because we were going to win that game!! We DID win and it was an awesome experience. Unfortunately, the ice they gave him for his hand had melted about halfway home and the pain started to kick in. It was a rough ride home for him but he couldn't have been happier because his Browns had won!

Thank you all. When we are struggling in the days, weeks and months ahead, it will help up get through to read your messages and memories about how much he touched other people's hearts and lives.