Teen's death should remind us all to keep life in persepctive

 
I don’t know where to begin today, for I am at a loss for words.
In my business, that’s not a good thing, but as I sit here at my desk on a summer Monday morning, I’m trying to come to grips with the death of a boy I never met.
Logan Luft was 15 — 15 for crying out loud — and since I first heard about the ATV accident that would claim his life, I’ve felt a devastation I haven’t felt since my stepdaughter Samantha died 2 1/2 years ago.
I, like so many others, have been overwhelmed by the reaction of so many to the death of this teen who had so much going for him.
He was, I have learned, a standout wrestler and an even better student, a kid with an infectious smile that could light up the darkest of rooms on the gloomiest of nights.
I’ve read the tributes, I’ve talked to the New Hampton wrestlers who knew him well and every time I have, I’ve just wanted to weep.
Go on Twitter and type in #LuftTuff and you’ll understand how a 15-year-old kid can make a huge impact on the world around him. Or read his mother’s Facebook posts and you’ll get it.
Life is not fair; if it was, Logan Luft would be fishing or in a wrestling room today and he would be getting ready for his freshman year at Charles City High School.
There is good — if you can call it that — in this story, for Luft made the decision when he got his driver’s permit to become an organ donor, and on Friday, his heart went to a 7-year-old girl, his liver to a 15-year-old girl, a kidney to a 3-year-old girl, another kidney to a 39-year-old woman and his pancreas went to a 52-year-old woman.
Up to 50 people will be helped by Logan Luft’s decision to become an organ and tissue donor.
Yet, I can’t imagine what kind of hell his family — his father Lenny, his mother Wendy, his siblings Landon and Lilly — have gone through this past week and will continue to endure for days, months and years ahead.
I have met Wendy, a real estate agent with an office in New Hampton, and I’m sure I’ve run into Lenny, a police officer in Charles City, but I will be the first to admit I do not know them well.
But my heart aches for them.
I have read so many tributes to Logan Luft, yet I have yet to become numb to them. As a parent of two teenagers, maybe it hits a little closer to home, but a 15-year-old — even if he didn’t have a dazzling future in front of him — shouldn’t be gone like this.
Last night, as Mother Nature put on one brilliant light show that kept me up for most of the night, I kept thinking of Logan Luft and trying to put it all in perspective.
Tonight, if the weather holds off, my son will take the field with his New Hampton baseball team as the Chickasaws begin the Class 2A postseason, one that comes with high hopes and expectations.
As a parent, I will admit that there are times I live vicariously through my children.
I’ve had a blast watching Josh and Noah play football together, seeing Noah wrestle at the state dual meet tournament, being “track side” when Josh ran at Drake Stadium this spring and taking in Josh and his teammates put together a 30-2 regular season on the diamond.
I’ll admit I desperately want this group of Chickasaws to be the one that finally makes it to Des Moines and the state baseball tournament.
I have told myself and others that if New Hampton doesn’t make it to Principal Park this year, it’s going to be a difficult day at the Fenske house.
But what’s a loss on the baseball diamond or the wrestling mat or the football field compared to the loss of a son?
That’s the perspective I have this morning.
So tonight, before your head hits the pillow, hold your kids tight and tell them you love them.
And say a prayer for Lenny, Wendy, Landon and Lilly and the countless souls who were touched by the life of Logan Luft.