Tag Archive | Family

Don’t Stop Believing

Jul2

I deeply believe everything happens for a reason. Sometimes, we face challenges that just SUCK; we cry, we are angry, we ask why? Why me and why now?

I believe that God provides us with these tests and lessons to help us grow and learn; to be better and stronger than we once were. Sometimes, there is no explanation; we just have to trust and have faith that He has a plan for us we may not understand.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11

Last fall, we learned that Brian’s work division, where he had grown as a professional and a leader for 8 years, was likely being eliminated. We prepared and planned, and true to my husband’s character, he spent the last few months of the year focused on the employees on his team. He had meetings, lunches, conversations, all to plant seeds for a possible new beginning. We discussed starting a business. We talked about investing in property as a potential asset and income source. Brian cleaned up his resume and searched for the next chapter in his career.

January.

February.

March.

April.

May.

I noticed how many of my friends and colleagues were also dealing with similar challenges. My dear friend Adair was forced to close her boutique, Brick & Mortar. I received texts from THREE friends letting me know they had been let go from their jobs. I saw the same from others on LinkedIn, longtime colleagues across multiple industries sharing that ‘Open To Work’ frame, asking for references and job opportunities. All of these folks with amazing talent and work ethic, let go due to no fault of their own. Our challenges were not unique, but it’s certainly a club no one wants to be part of.

Brian told me one night that there was nothing more frustrating than getting an email with ‘we really like you but you’re overqualified’ or ‘thank you for applying but..’  By the end of April, Brian had applied for upwards of 200 jobs nationwide and received more than 75 of those emails. He is a proud husband and father, wanting to shoulder the responsibility of providing for his family. This weight became heavier and heavier with each passing week, and each rejection email.

I tried to focus on the positive; Brian could be there for our boys (and me!) when they were home sick, needed rides to activities and practices, and greet them when they got home from school. As I navigate my challenges with chronic vestibular migraines, it’s been invaluable to have Brian focused on our home and kids full-time when I suffer an attack. I also reminded Brian that this new time meant he could fully commit to something he absolutely loved: BASEBALL.

Baseball has always been part of Brian’s life. He began coaching for the Millard North Mustangs in 2006; he loved it so much, he went back to school to earn a degree in teaching. The teaching career didn’t work out, but the coaching did; Brian was a member of legendary Coach Dave Cork’s staff for 13 seasons. He left when our boys were 7 and 5 to coach their T-Ball teams.

Fast forward to 2023. Our boys had traded baseball for football, Quiz Bowl, soccer and basketball. While they no longer played the game, their teammates in other sports did, and many of them were on track to attend our community’s brand new Gretna East High School. When this beautiful building opened in 2023, Brian reached out to administrators about joining the Varsity Baseball staff.

Brian joined Head Coach Darrell Everhart and Assistant Coaches Matt Renshaw and Collier Buttgen to form Gretna East High School Varsity Baseball’s first coaching staff. In their inaugural season in 2024, without any seniors, the team won a District title and finished as the Class B State Runner Up. It was one of Brian’s most successful years in his coaching career. Just as important, if not more so, we felt like family with this team and staff from day one. The culture created by Coach Darrell, emphasized by each member of his staff, his parents and his players, was focused on teamwork, staying humble, working hard. They finished every game with a team huddle and prayer on the field, reinforcing they were a family and not a collection of separate individuals. At a time when so many teams, players, parents, coaches are focused on ‘how do I get noticed; how do I get that scholarship; how do we win at all costs’; Griffins Baseball lived by the mantra of mentoring and nurturing young men, developing stellar baseball skills and knowledge of the game, while reinforcing great LIFE skills and building a brotherhood among one another.

Needless to say, we were all excited for high school baseball season this year. Nine returning seniors and a slew of up-and-coming talent, hungry and eager to learn. Reunited with all of our coaches (and their families!) at the ballpark. Our team motto was #JobsNotDone, reflecting back on that 2024 State Runner Up finish, one game away from winning it all.

The job was hard. We’d follow up a win with a 1-run loss. It would happen again. One step forward, two steps back. Moments of the same greatness we saw in 2024, followed by frustration. At one point, it looked like our Griffs would have to win Districts to even COMPETE at State, let alone be a contender.

April 29.. and everything started to fall into place. We won our final four games of the regular season. We won the District Championship against higher-seeded Waverly on their turf. We headed back to the State Championship at UNO’s Tal Anderson field feeling dejavu – in a good way.

We got the other kind of dejavu – the kind you want to forget. Our team lost in the opening game in a 1-run walk-off to Waverly, the team we had beaten in our two prior meetings just the week before. Our Griffs would have to claw our way back, through the loser’s bracket, or our season would be over.

With baseball superstitions alive and well, I didn’t even write potential game times on my calendar in fear I’d jinx everything. Day by day, game by game, inning by inning.

Monday at Papillion-La Vista South – we beat Hastings.

Tuesday at Werner Park – we faced Waverly again and won.

Wednesday at Papillion-La Vista South – we would have to beat Skutt Catholic TWICE to stay alive and make it back to the state title game. Skutt had been top-ranked in Class B all year, beating us earlier in the season in one of those 1-run heartbreakers. As our boys battled every day that week, Skutt had been resting in the winner’s bracket. Tensions were high for both sides (some showing it with more grace than others.) In the middle of the first game, one of our team leaders and star players, Easton Leahy, took a fast ball straight to the head and immediately dropped at home plate. NSAA medical staff treated him and got him off the field. As his mom ran to her SUV to take him in to be checked, Easton collapsed again behind the dugout. We called 911 and Papillion Fire & Rescue arrived within minutes to take him to an area hospital.

We found out within a few hours Easton was fine and had cleared all medical testing, but at the time, our boys and coaches were asked to keep playing not knowing what had happened to their friend, clearly rattled at everything that had just taken place. They pushed through – yelling ‘For E!’ throughout the remaining innings.

Another 1-run victory – this time, with us on the winning side.

So, we had to play again. By the bottom of the 7th, we were up by a run and down to their final out. Skutt battled back, tying the score.

In high school baseball in Nebraska, teams play 7 innings. This game went 15. Pitch after pitch, play after play, our boys battled. Our catcher Carson Herrmann, after squatting his 6’2″ frame for hours behind the plate, laid out in a straight dive to snag a foul ball. Our 2nd baseman Tyler Cox stopped everything hit his way, even taking cleats to the shin at one point by a player trying to slide in safely (Tyler got him.) Our boys were defensive showcases, turning outstanding plays all over the diamond and in the outfield. They never turned on one another; they lifted each other up; they battled like warriors but played with great sportsmanship and true character.

In the bottom of the 15th, Colton Nicholson, a monster of a young man my husband lovingly calls ‘Big Cat’, stepped up to the plate. Colton, our 1st baseman, rocketed the pitch into the left field over the outfielder’s head, scoring his teammate Chase Neneman.

I’m pretty sure I had a heart attack.

These boys faced 22 innings of baseball in one day, nearly 7 hours of playing, with a teammate sent to the hospital in between. They never gave up on one another. They believed. And in that moment, as Colton shot his fist into the air and our stands erupted in tears and screams, it felt like all of that hard work and the GOODNESS of this team was being rewarded. All we had heard leading up to that day was ‘there’s no way you’ll beat Skutt.’ It felt like we were the USA beating Russia in 1980.

That moment has since gone viral online, garnering thousands of likes and views across multiple social media platforms (47,000 views on X alone), and Colton was named an Honorable Mention on the Omaha World Herald Class B All State team.

When Brian got home that night, the boys and I were ready. I played ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ by Journey on full blast, and we congratulated him by jumping up and down, cheering and basically assaulting him with hugs. It was just a great, great day we will never forget.

#JobsNotDone. We had made it to the state championship but had 7 more innings of baseball to play. None of the coaches washed their clothes. (Bad luck.) I wore my bejeweled Griffins jean jacket (the only time I hadn’t worn it the whole game? That first round loss at UNO.) Easton and I sat in the exact same seats at Werner Park we had the previous Monday when we won in the 2nd round. Brian didn’t even go to the community send off for the team because the last time he had, we lost.

Baseball superstitions run deep, folks. And guys, I’m a baseball nerd. Brian knew this when he married me. When my junior high girlfriends had subscriptions to Seventeen and Glamour magazine, I had a subscription to Chop Talk to get farm club details and stories on my Atlanta Braves. So yes, I’m biased, but I also have game street cred when I say the defense exhibited in the 2025 Class B State Championship was stellar – for both teams. We played Bennington, throwing one of our aces, York University commit Austin Copeland. Both Cope and Bennington’s pitcher thew complete games that day, with minimal hits. The defense on both sides was simply jaw dropping. We struck first; Chase Neneman, who scored our winning run in that nailbiter against Skutt, delivered a 2-run RBI in the 4th inning. Chase is only a SOPHOMORE.

Bottom of the 7th inning. I clutched a rosary in my sweatshirt pocket, praying. YES, I realize that God has better things to do than answer prayers about baseball, but I pleaded to Him that day that this was more than a game. This was about recognizing the character of this team. Boys who played for each other. Boys who never gave up. Boys who played the game the right way. And this was for Brian – because after everything he’d been through the last few months, he NEEDED this. I wanted this so badly for him – a bright spot amid so much frustration and worry.

When Cope pitched one final time, and the batter popped up to our Colton Kuhl in right field, I didn’t cheer – I sobbed. I put my face in my hands and my body shook as I cried and thanked God. I opened my eyes and just watched Brian and tried to sear that beautiful moment into my memory. At one point, we could see him looking for us in the stands. Easton and I jumped up and down, pumping our arms into the air so he could see us – and I saw him break down.

After all the hugs, all the photos, and yes, more tears, I got in my car at Werner Park.

Don’t Stop Believing was playing on the radio.

You can’t make this up.

We still remember the names of all of his favorite players over his nearly 20 years of coaching, some now grown men with kids of their own. Casey Gillaspie. Evan Porter. Alex Mortensen. Jack Wilson. Jordan Ritzdorf. Sean Fisher. Brian told me the night of the championship that what made this year so special was this team felt like ‘I had a whole team of those guys – the really special ones.’

Trevor Cox, who saw three little boys waiting outside the dugout after the final game of his high school career, and dug into his backpack to find them baseballs to take home.

Those same boys? They came to Werner Park on their last day of school, and stayed in the pouring rain, to watch and cheer for Nolan Green, their next-door neighbor.

Jensen Albers, who missed his entire season due to injury but was still at every practice, every game, trying to make Brian laugh.

Easton Leahy, who didn’t play in the state championship because of that pitch to the head 48 hours prior. He must have been gutted to not play, but channeled that into passion and support for his teammates in the dugout.

Colton Nicholson and Nolan Iverson, who also play football and have since ‘adopted’ our son Easton, giving him rides every day to and from summer training.

Three Griffins were named to the All Nebraska State Baseball Team. Three were named to the Class B All-State Team; five more named Honorable Mentions. Five were named All-Conference athletes; five more as honorable mentions. The team was honored as an Academic Excellence Award winner with a cumulative team GPA of 3.30 during the Spring semester. Four have committed to collegiate baseball programs around the Midwest.

22 young men, all special, that Brian got to coach to the first baseball state championship in the history of Gretna East High School.

Had Brian gotten a call about a job in January, or February, or March, he would have missed all of this. He would’ve missed this last year with nine of those young men who just graduated and are ready to begin their next chapters. He would’ve missed that piece of history, winning that long coveted and hard-earned state title. He would’ve missed being part of such a special team of kids and coaches to get the job done. But God had a plan for him, something we could not see or understand, that is crystal clear now.

This was my daily bible verse on May 23, 2025, the day Gretna East won the state title.

“My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
Colossians 2:2-3

Everything happens for a reason. And I hope this post not only reminds us of that, but takes us back to a week in our lives we will simply never forget: a sunny respite in what has otherwise been a pretty cloudy stretch. And in the interim, as we watch and wait for the career opportunity we know will come, Brian has started coaching boys in our neighborhood, finding that same purpose and joy in working with kids, helping them pursue their own passions.

Photo courtesy Angie Nicholson

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Deuteronomy 31:6

Maybe you, too, are waiting.. wondering.. and frustrated, feeling like you just can’t win.

Maybe you keep getting ‘first runner up’; for the next promotion, you’re always the bridesmaid and never the bride, you’re always one step from stardom but never the headliner.

Maybe you’re battling a chronic illness or injuries and can’t find answers or support.

Maybe you just feel abandoned, beaten down, lost and hopeless, like no one is listening to you or cares about you.

Don’t give up. Keep the faith. God is listening and has a plan for the journey you are on and the challenges he’s giving you. Keep pushing forward, watching for opportunities to see all you should be thankful for. The outcome of the game is already determined, but how you play it may totally change your experience along the way.

Don’t stop believing.

Thank you for reading! And thank you to 402 Blog Sponsor: Wendy Welch!

For information on becoming a 402 Blog Sponsor, please email me at brandipaul7@gmail.com.

The Fisherman

Aug6

POST KETV.. a long awaited trip to the Lake of the Ozarks.  No partying, no late night booze cruises, just family time and the peace of the water.  My Dad says it’s the Dane in us that pulls us to it.. that makes us feel complete serenity when we can hear the calming slap of water on the dock.  Even in sweltering heat; a day at the lake is bearable.  Even when you don’t catch a thing, fishing is nature’s therapy.  There’s something about the water that puts everything in balance.

In a few short weeks, a Papillion family will once again answer a similar calling to the water.  Four, incredible women will stand side by side and breathe in a place that helps them feel whole.. and at peace.

c0cde0_107ec5e87c064fbfa6b94c586209b46f

***

Sherry was a 15-year old cheerleader at Wayne High School.  In the late 70’s, it was an annual tradition for the girls to muster up their courage and ask a guy to the Sadie Hawkins dance.  Sherry, just a sophomore, had her eye on 17-year old Kevin Murray, a junior football player.

“We grew up together in Wayne, a small town, where everyone knew you,” said Sherry.  “Kevin played multiple sports in school.  He enjoyed hunting and fishing with his family and friends, a real guys’ guy.”

And from the beginning it seems, he was Sherry’s guy.

11884062_10153598597457472_2163498019972624138_o

Their lives from that point on were a John Cougar Mellencamp song brought to life.  They began dating after that Sadie Hawkins dance, and married less than a year after Sherry graduated from Wayne High.  April 12, 1980.. two American kids doing the best they can.

524372_10151550088062472_508231382_n

“Kevin excelled in industrial tech classes and landed a job with a couple small town contractors building farm buildings,” said Sherry. “Work was slow in the winter months and after adding a child, Jennifer, 1982, to the mix we started to have bigger aspirations.   I had an uncle in Omaha that said he thought Kevin could get a job with Peter Kiewit and Sons Construction Company if he wanted to move to Omaha.”

They did; Kiewit hired Kevin in August of 1984.  He didn’t have a college degree, but he did have talent, determination, and an incomparable work ethic.

“He continued to work his way up the ladder with each job he was on,” said Sherry.  “He impressed his foremen and the company bosses and was promoted many times.”

Kevin Murray climbed to the top; the VERY top, named General Superintendent overseeing all of Kiewit’s work in Omaha, including the First National Bank Tower.  Kevin was superintendent for the project, the tallest building in downtown Omaha.

260016_10150220917457472_904544_n

“He would say that was his mark left on the city, they couldn’t take that away from him,” said Sherry.  “He had a very high standard that he held himself to. He was very proud of the man he had become, coming from a small town with no college education to holding one of the highest positions in the company’s construction world. He was lucky enough to become a stock holder with Kiewit and earned a fine salary for someone without a college degree, providing his family with a wonderful life.”

By then, Kevin and Sherry’s family had grown to five, the couple raising three beautiful, spirited daughters.  The ‘guys’ guy’ was the ONLY guy in the Murray household, and taught his girls about the same simple pleasures he had known growing up; hunting, camping and family.

1097882_10151804023342472_1001926272_o

From Sherry: “Kevin had been fishing at a farm pond in Iowa and caught these nice bluegill that the girls helped him clean! Yummy supper that night!”

The Murray girls grew up with barbies, ribbons.. and fishing poles.

1116234_10151801673007472_358101540_o

From Sherry: “Kevin and I and the girls fishing at a Buckskin lake up in NE Nebraska 1990!”

The Murray sisters grew up beautiful, well rounded and strong.  Jennifer excelled in the arts, winning leading roles in musical groups and plays throughout junior high and high school.  Ashley showed athleticism early on, a key varsity softball player on 2 state championship teams.  Marissa, a born leader, set trends and standards from school hallways to the football sidelines as a competitive cheerleader.  No matter what their activity, their parents were their rocks.. and their friends.

1

Fall of 2004.. Jennifer had moved to Lincoln to pursue a degree in dental hygiene. Ashley had just started classes at UNO, and Marissa was just starting her freshman year at Papillion-La Vista High.  Kevin planned to attend the funeral of his favorite great aunt in Dixon, Nebraska, then stop in Crofton for an afternoon of walleye fishing with his cousin.

“The morning he left he was in a hurry and franticly looking for his sunglasses, and we were having a slight disagreement about a parenting issue. I guess you can say we left each other with mad feelings between us,” said Sherry.  “I called him on the phone about 2:30 that day to let him know I had found his sunglasses in a basket of laundry I had put away. He said Gary already had two fish, he was eager to get out there ,too. He was just getting ready to go out on Lewis and Clark Lake, a place he and I had fished many times together, but this day he would be alone. I told him good luck and I love you.”

1_0001

Four hours later, Sherry received a phone call.  Kevin’s boat had been found adrift on the lake, but there was no sign of Kevin.  His cousin, Gary, immediately joined a group of searchers that grew by the day to find any clues.. to find Kevin.

It took five days.  On October 12, 2004.. Sherry’s 43rd birthday.. crews found her husband.

“His death was ruled a drowning,” said Sherry.  “We will never know what caused him to be tossed from the boat.  There was damage to the passenger seat and rod holder that looked as an impact of some sort caused him to be thrown overboard. I have kept those sunglasses and the lesson they taught me: to never forget to say I love you to someone you love. You never know if you will get that chance again.”

Jenni Murray-Rohacik is one of my dearest friends.  In the days crews searched for her dad, I had dreams they found him alive; that everything was OK.  I went to the Murray home during that terrible stretch of days and stood next to Jenni as she knelt down next to Sherry, who stared in her eldest daughter’s eyes, shaking her head, unable to form sentences.  When Jenni and I drove to St. Columbkille to talk to a priest about services, Jenni broke down in grief.  I broke down in tears days later, as Jenni bravely stood in that church and read the Fisherman’s Prayer in tribute to her beloved father.

251043_10150209127917472_4535196_n

I thank the Lord I have never known grief like what this family went through.  At some point in the weeks and months that followed, Sherry and her girls decided to channel their pain into something.. a fishing tournament to honor Kevin.

“That first year planning the fishing tournament gave me something to look forward to and to plan and focus on something positive,” said Sherry.  “I used those sleepless nights to brain storm and ideas just kept popping into my head. With my daughters help, we had our first Kevin J Murray Memorial Fishing tournament September 24, 2005.”

972183_10151791733647472_711466247_n

66 fishing teams signed up.  Countless friends, loved ones and colleagues came to take part, volunteer, or just show support.  Dozens of items were auctioned and raffled off, all raising money for a scholarship or two at Wayne High School for students pursuing building trades just like Kevin did. The tournament was held at the same place Sherry lost Kevin, at Lewis and Clark Lake near Crofton, Nebraska.

“It was a gathering place for friends and family and coworkers who had come to help in the search at the time of his accident. It was the place where we had our summer home. It only seemed fitting that we have a reunion of sorts,” said Sherry.  “I never dreamed we would have the response we did. But I also knew Kevin had so many friends and family that loved him and all wanted to do something to pay tribute to him as well.”

That first year, the tournament raised $8,000.  Every year since, the Murrays have returned with another bigger and better event.  Kevin’s daughter, Ashley, spends months in advance contacting sponsors, bringing in raffle prizes, and organizing the tournament.

“We have all types of fishermen; some who are local to the area and have never met our family, others who are friends and family from the Wayne or Omaha area. Some are experienced fishermen; others who fish once a year for our event,” said Sherry.  “Regardless of fishing knowledge or expertise, our fishermen come away with memories, maybe a prize, and probably many exaggerated fishing stories☺.”

Later this month, the Murray family will hold their 12th fishing tournament honoring Kevin.  Their hope: to top $100,000 in money raised for Wayne High.  That plan for ‘one or two scholarships’ has grown to 25 scholarships and awards, as well as playground equipment, weight room rubber mat flooring, treadmills for rehabbing athletes, to welders for the tech department, softball and baseball field repairs, and more.

“I think Kevin would be very proud of the event,” said Sherry.  “He would love to be sitting around telling fish stories with all the guys after a day of fishing. He would be happy that we have honored him in such a way.  Together we leave a mark in history, to the place where it all started for us, Wayne High School, In Wayne, America as it is known there!  I think he would be surprised that people still think of him and continue to come after all these years.”

His family thinks of him every, single day.

12063554_10153674018237472_8168484425851651469_n

Of all of the incredible things Kevin Murray accomplished during his time on earth and inspired by how he lived his life, I’d argue THIS is what he’d be proudest of.  The three confident, striking, INCREDIBLE daughters he raised who are all successful and happy.  Joe and Deven, the two men who are raising his grandchildren and offering love and friendship to his girls.  Nathan, Kyler and Maggie.. the kiddos who never got to meet their grandpa, but no doubt know him and learn his fishing secrets every year at the annual tournament named in his honor.  And his high school sweetheart, wife and best friend who dug deep to find a new path, never forgetting what always mattered most to them; finding happiness through love, family, and to simply live like you were dying.

“After a tragedy you have choices to make.. shrivel up and die or move forward,” said Sherry.  “I chose to move forward, with the emotional support and love from my family and friends. I guess when life throws you lemons make lemonade, is a message I always heard. A guy who was a small town boy made it in a big town. People like to see others succeed in life. He was a success. Although he didn’t get the chance to live a much longer life, being taken in his prime at the age of 45, I know he lived what he had to the fullest. He loved big and worked hard and always found time to enjoy the outdoors with his friends and family.”

unnamed

I pray that I may live to fish, Until my dying day.
And when it comes to my last cast, I then most humbly pray:
When in the Lord’s great landing net, And peacefully asleep
That in His mercy I be judged, Big enough to keep.

On August 27, hundreds of people will once again drawn to the water to share their love and respect for a great friend.  It’s another opportunity to raise money for students who want to follow in the footsteps of a man who climbed to the very top. One more day for Kevin’s family to remember their father, grandpa and husband, and to remind each other to make the most of every day we have.

12375004_10153817961112472_4286017332872576015_o

“I have a different perspective on the fishing tournament than my daughters do.. I guess I think of it as a tribute to a man I loved. A love story of sorts, I guess you could say,” said Sherry.  “Through the help of my friends and family all with a common goal to raise money with our event, it has helped to heal the hole left in my heart with Kevin’s absence. It is my way of paying him back for the wonderful life he gave me and our children.”

***

The 12th Annual Kevin J Murray Memorial Fishing Tournament will take place August 27, 2016 at Lewis & Clark Lake near Crofton, Nebraska at Weigand Marina.  Teams of 2 are welcome to sign up in advance online or in person the day of the event; cost is $120/team, which includes shirts and a buffet meal at a banquet following the tournament at CJ’s in Crofton.  Prizes include $500 for 1st place, $250 for 2nd and $150 for 3rd largest weight totals.  Prizes are also awarded for largest walleye and largest non-walleye.  Raffle prizes are available all day at the tournament.

For more information, CLICK HERE to visit the event’s website or

CLICK HERE to visit the event’s Facebook page