Well it has been a stressful week. I received the news last Saturday that Joey Dado (Latrobe graduate) went missing. He was last seen leaving a frat party at penn state 3 in the morning, and he did not return to his dorm. My initial thoughts were, "Not to worry, they'll find him." I didn't think that this was an actual serious situation, but then I got to thinking, "This could be bad." I can't imagine what his parents and 3 sisters must be going through. No one knows where Joe is.
Sunday morning. My mom wakes me up before my alarm goes off. I was supposed to film Pastor Mark's service that morning. She says, "Chelsea, will you go to the vet with us? I'm going to take Hunter (my black lab) there." I asked why but decided it wasn't important because I would go. She started crying saying she didn't want to do this alone. Then I knew what she meant. We were taking him to the vet to be put down.
My dog is old. So this didn't quite come as a shock. He would be 13 in January. But being an emotional girl, memories of him flooded my mind. He had been my dog for 12.5 years. I'm only 18. That is 2/3 of my life, 3/4 of Natalie's life, 4/7 of Katie's life, and 1/2 of my parents' marriage. So.. this sucks a little bit.
This was the first time I ever watched something die. I don't really want to relive this memory.
It was a rough day- though I had friends to surround me. That was nice.
Joe Dado is still missing.
Monday. Still mourning my dog, I was styling greasy hair, glasses, flip flops and sweat pants. This was also..not a good day.
I get home. As of 6:00 Joe Dado is still missing. An hour later, Joe Dado is pronounced dead. I immediately rushed to my church. There I find a swarm of people just gathering..to sob basically. Joe was a little drunk. He fell down a stairwell. He suffered from head trauma and died.
Our whole school has been in mourning this past week. It been a sad couple of days. Yesterday was his viewing. There were hundreds there. We stood an hour in line. This was also a painful day. I had never seen a teenager in a casket before. Looking at the hundreds of pictures that were displayed was hard to deal with, but also comforting.
The funeral was this morning. I played at it. I was honored that I was asked. It was definitely the largest audience I had ever had. Hundreds there. I was overwhelmed with pain and sorrow. Seeing so many people there--I could feel their pain. But seeing so many there also gave me comfort. We were grieving the loss, but we were celebrating life.
Joey lived an amazing life. A short life, but he had an impact. The people that show up to his viewing and funeral were proof of that. He was intelligent, a star athlete, a family man, and loved by everyone. Joe lived a wonderful life.
Joey Dado. In loving memory. We love you, we miss you. Your family is in our prayers.
"The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from calamity; he enters into peace; they rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness." Isaiah 57:1-2
"'What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.'" John 13:7
"Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death where is your sting?" 1 Corinthians 15:55
"In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials," 1 Peter 1:6
"He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth." Isaiah 25:8
