My Christmas This Year
I want to tell all of you about my Christmas today because it has made me feel
and think a great deal about my life.
Today I had a great Christmas. I received wonderful gifts from everyone in my
family and have enjoyed the past couple days with them more than I have at any
holiday ever. Today after present opening, me and my 4 older brothers were
downstairs hanging out and talking about Christmas. At some point during this my
grandpa arrived, and although my parents were napping and nobody let him in,
papa entered our house lol. He is sitting in the living room alone and begins
reading today's Post Dispatch. Papa is reading and comes across a bolded name
that sounds familiar to him and then he remembered why.
Last night during the Howell/Herr Christmas family gathering, papa asked me how
the Christmas season has been and how my break has been going. I told him it was
good and it was nice to be home but it has not been a great past couple of days.
When he asked why I told him about a fraternity brother and good friend of mine,
Jordan Dupy, had passed away a few days ago in a car accident and how it's been
really hard on everyone that knew him. Being the generous man that he is, Papa asked me to tell him about Jordan. (I'm going to say Dupy because that is how I ever referred to him and I instinctively type it every time haha). I told Papa about how he was from around Edwardsville, Illinois, How he was a year younger than me in school but went to school in Illinois this past semester instead of Missouri State, and i told him how Dupy was one of the nicest people I've ever met in my life and how this has just been devastating to everyone he was close to.
When papa sees his name in the paper, he remembers me telling him about Dupy and his full name and he asks my stepbrother Zach to go downstairs and show me the newspaper because he thought I'd want to see it.
On Christmas day 2014, I read my good friend Jordan Alexander Dupy's obituary in the newspaper.
I have had a few elderly family members pass away during my lifetime but this was the first time an actual good friend of mine and somebody my age had passed away, except a kid in my grade who passed away when I was a sophomore in high school but I was not nearly as good of friends with him. I have now seen how an unexpected death, especially of someone so nice and genuine who had a great life ahead of them, can affect a family and community
I am reading Jordan Dupy's obituary and I am overwhelmed by thoughts and emotions
First I feel upset about the fact that I will never see a friend and fraternity brother alive in my lifetime again and how sad that is.
Then, I feel thankful. I really did have an amazing Christmas today with my family, especially this year with my baby niece because I get to see the next generation of my family celebrate Christmas. I don't say it enough to them but I truly am blessed with the family I have
After that, I feel an overwhelming love for the people in my life. The Herr family, The Howell family, My friends from home, all of my brothers at Missouri State Delta Chi. seriously I love everyone in my life and whether you may think it or not, if I know you and even consider you as sort of a friend, I care about you and am glad that you're in my life
Last, but most of all, I thought about the Dupy family. I cannot even imagine what it's like to experience this kind of loss in my family; a Son, an Older Brother, a cousin, Dupy was all of these thing and on top of that he was an amazing person. I thought about how he had not gone to school the past semester because his family was going through some hard times, and how they probably would never have planned on having to pay for a funeral. I saw that the family has a set up an fundraiser to put Jordan's little brother, Andrew through school. I empathize with that family right now and can only imagine the support they need right now which is why I am definitely donating to the Andrew Dupy Educational Fund
What I learned this Christmas though is a common ideology that is very often passed around in our culture, but most people do not understand this idea until it happens directly to them and they have to experience this feeling themselves; Cherish your family and loved ones. There are so many people in all of our lives that make you happy and the sad truth is they all will not always be there. So make sure you appreciate these people and let them know this holiday season, I know I will be.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone this year. whether I've met you or not, I love you all because everyone person on this earth means something to somebody else and I know that if they were gone, somebody may not enjoy life as much.
Christmas is about being with those that you love and appreciating what you have and acknowledging the ones you love, and it can be a damn shame if we do not realize that in today's society.
Be safe and have a happy New Year.
-Alec Herr
Share This Article
