Last night was the first game of the season for the Harrison High HOYA’s.  My cousin, Garrett Reed was a member of the HOYA’s and he was tragically killed in a car accident on January 24th.  The HOYA’s honored Garrett and his family at the game by presenting his mom,dad and brother with a plaque honoring him.  They also allowed his brother Carter to wear his jersey and made him the honorary captain for the game.  Throughout out the game, fans, players and coaches held up the 11 sign to honor the memory of Garrett.

We traveled up to Powder Springs to attend the game with other family members.  It was a powerful and touching tribute to a wonderful young man.  We miss Garrett deeply and are honored that his memory continues to impact so many lives daily.

Enjoy the video which gives highlights to a very emotional evening.

Thanks to the HARRISSON HIGH HOYA family for reaching your arms around our family and helping us pay tribute to the memory of Garrett.  You help us remember that being a 10 is never good enough – when we can stretch to be an 11.

    How do you begin to describe what we have all just experienced.  First the shock of the news that Garrett had been killed, then what his family and all of us experienced was just as unexpected as his death.   Over three thousand of you came to celebrate his life with us and to grieve with us and to say goodbye with us.  You braved bitterly cold weather standing in line for over three hours to say goodbye.  You packed their home, the church and then the cemetery. We had no idea how many people Garrett touched in life and now death.  There is no way to begin to describe how powerfully touching these past five days have been.  Three of his friends spoke in the celebration along with his pastor and the team chaplain.    The chaplain, Brandon Hancock, shared with us the importance of living life as an 11 not just a ten.  Garrett’s jersey number was 11.  He challenged the team at the beginning of 4th quarter in every game to hold their hands high to make an eleven – to remember Garrett.  When we walked out of the church the entire team was standing outside holding up their hands to make this eleven.  All along the way to the cemetery strangers were standing on the side of the road holding up the eleven.  The chaplain has allowed me to post his entire comments here.

Words are simply not enough to express how you have blanketed us with your calls, visits, emails and outpouring of love.  Garrett would be proud!

Brandon Hancock’s comments:

We’ve gathered here today to honor the legacy of James Garrett Reed and just by looking around this building what a wonderful legacy it is. When I see all of his family, friends, and teammates, it tells me the story of Garrett’s life. It tells me just how many people loved and cared for him and just how many lives Garrett touched. And when I see all of his football memorabilia around you would think we were her to honor Garrett the football player. However that’s not what I want to do now. Garrett’s abilities on the field were truly amazing, but they don’t tell the entire story of his life. He accomplished many things on the field throughout his career, but those accomplishments fail in comparison to what he achieved off the field. I would much rather honor Garrett Reed, the son, the brother, the student, the classmate, and Garrett the teammate than honor Garrett the football player. Because the accomplishments he had in those areas are what really made Garrett who he was. Garrett was a devoted son to his parents, Neal and Sarah. Loved his younger brother, Carter with everything he had. Was the absolute best classmate you could have and finally was the finest teammate anyone could ask for. It’s those qualities that I believe are far more important than anything he did on the football field and it’s those qualities I want to remember today.

When I accepted the position of the Harrison Hoya Football Team Chaplain this year I did it without knowing exactly what I was getting myself into and not knowing exactly what I was supposed to do. So I sat down with Coach Hines and we talked and he suggested that I come and speak to the team every Wednesday along with being there on Friday nights to pray and lead a Bible study. It was after that meeting when the panic set in and I thought to myself “what am I going to do.” What was I going to be able to say to these young men to get help prepare them for the long season ahead. I worried about how I was going to be received. Were the players going to like me, were they going to enjoy hearing what I had to say, and get anything out of it, were they going to include me into their tight knit circle. So I decided I would dig into my bag of tricks and do what I thought would bring them over to my side. I thought I would bribe them. Everybody like someone who brings them a gift, so I thought I would go buy them a gift. So I did my research about what to get them this was the idea that I had. I would love to say that I was original enough to come up with this idea on my own, but if I’m being truthful today I have to say that I stole it from my father-in-law. He had given Dog Tags to a team a few years ago. However none of these current players were on the team then, so I thought it would be way for them to come together as a unit. When I gave them their dog tags, I talked about the importance of them. I believe they are the one of the greatest symbol of unity that this country has. I told them that when you put these around your neck it’s a symbol that you are a part of something that is bigger than you, for a purpose you can’t even imagine. It means that you never leave a man behind and that you are always there for your teammate. It means that you have to do your job because the man standing next you depends on it. It means that you will always do your best. It means that you will have the strength and courage to look adversity in the face and come out the other side better than you were before. I told them it meant being a HOYA. And there was no one on the team that personified those qualities better than Garrett. I never saw Garrett when he wasn’t wearing his dog tag and that meant the world to me. But it I was more proud about how Garrett embraced the ideas of the Dog tags. You see, I never saw Garrett pull his teammates down, I only saw him lifting them up. I always saw Garrett working hard because he knew that was the only way he was going to reach the goals he set out for himself I always saw Garrett doing his job, not wanting the credit for himself only for his team. Garrett wasn’t concerned if he caught 1 pass or if he caught 10. He only cared if his team got a win. I never saw Garrett back down from a challenge. I only saw him embrace it with strength and courage with every ounce of energy in his body. I never saw Garrett get upset at a teammate. I only saw him lifting up their spirits when things got tough. And that to me means this: Garrett knew what it meant to be a friend, teammate, and a HOYA.

Now I’m left to wonder. What if we all did this? What changes could be made in all our lives if we all lived our lives like Garrett did? How much would Harrison High School be if all of the students there lived their life with these qualities? What if we all took a page out of Garrett’s life and always lifted up our friends, our family, strangers, our community like Garrett did? What if we were all willing to put in the hard work that is the cornerstone of success? What if we had the strength and courage to look at the adversity that comes along in our lives and power thru it like Garrett did? What if we lived in a community that didn’t care who got the credit when things were accomplished, rather just wanted our team to get a win? What if we never backed down from a challenge? How much better would our world be? What if everybody in this room made a commitment here today to put on imaginary dog tags and live our lives with the same spirit that Garrett did when he had his on? What would Harrison look like if we all lived like Garrett? What if we all were 11’s? Could we see this school change, this community change, this world change? I believe we can. I believe it’s that change that is going to legacy that Garrett leaves behind. I believe that change is what Garrett would have wanted and I believe it’s that change that we are going to give Garrett.

We have a tradition here within our Harrison community. On Friday nights at the start of the 4^th quarter we all hold up our hands to the air and extend five fingers to honor the legacy of Luke Abbate. I never want to see that tradition go away. But today I’d like to add something to that tradition. Players what if everyone put on their helmet, strapped the chin strap up because we never saw Garrett without his on ready to go to play and with our left hand put up our fives and then with our right we stuck our hands up with these two fingers extended. To me that looks like an Eleven. And it will be a way for us to always remember Garrett. For us to always remember the qualities that Garrett lived his life with. And while I don’t believe in coincidences, I believe a coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous, that all we have to do is extend our thumb out to get the sign language sign for love. So this is the challenge I’d like to issue today. That we put up both hands to the sky one with the five and one with the eleven. We put up the eleven to remember Garrett and what he meant to all of us. We put up the eleven to remind ourselves that we all should live our lives as elevens. We put up the eleven to remind ourselves who we are playing for. Then right before we put our hands down, we extend out our thumbs so as Garrett’s is looking down on us, he sees just how much we love him.

Below is a video we put together to celebrate the incredible life of Garrett.  Even though his life was cut short his impact on all of us is immeasurable.

Throughout the day today you have called and emailed wanting more details on Garretts accident.  Apparently last night Garrett lost control of his car and crossed over into the path of an oncoming vehicle.  The other vehicle struck his car in the drivers door.  Even though he was wearing his seat belt – he was killed instantly.  We understand the 25 year old driver of the other vehicle remains hospitalized – but should recover fully.  The accident occurred around midnight Friday night in Marietta.  Garrett was a Junior at Harrison High School in Kennesaw.

Visitation will be from 6 to 9 PM at West Cobb funeral home in Marietta.  The funeral will be Tuesday at 2PM at First Baptist Church in Powder Springs and the burial immediately following at Kennesaw Memorial Park cemetery.

Here are a few of my favorite images I captured of Garrett over the past 16 years.

  I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday.  Our birthdays were only a week apart.  He was such a cute little baby.  Then his one year portrait and so many others through the years.  I last photographed him in August at Guido Gardens.  He was down from Marietta helping us celebrate my dad’s 60th birthday.    Then we were together a few weeks ago celebrating Christmas.  He was a rising senior and a great athlete.  He was very handsome, well mannered and very smart.  He was an ALL AMERICAN teenager.  He was so excited about being a senior next year and we enjoyed some special time planning his senior pictures.  I was excited about photographing him in Atlanta and at his home in Marietta.

God had a little different plan for Garrett however.  Tonight, at midnight, he was killed in a head on collision outside of Atlanta.  Garrett was my cousin and yes, 16 is WAY too early to depart this earth.  Edie Grace had decided to spend the night with my dad tonight.  At 2 AM we received the horrific phone call.  I understood immediately something was terribly wrong – but would have NEVER imagined that this would be the news.  We have spent that last few hours gathering clothes and things and helping my dad and step-mother Cathy prepare to make the long trip to Atlanta.  Garrett’s mom, Sarah, is Cathy’s baby sister.

DeWayne worked as a paramedic/firefighter through college and in our early years of marriage.  I don’t know all the stories but I do know that working an accident like this was always the hardest.  They would often visit with the family of the deceased shortly after the accident.  He talks about being burdened when a young mother or father asks WHY?  Such a simple three letter word – but one that brings the weight of the world crashing down.  There is never a simple answer to that question.  Now, tonight, we are in a much different position in asking that question WHY? 

Did I mention he was handsome, smart, so polite and SO FULL OF LIFE?

Earlier today, a very good friend of ours, a fellow photographer shared with us that they were not going to survive the economic downturn.  The bank had called their note and they will soon loose everything they owned.  Their home, their business, their cars…everything.  But surprisingly they seemed relieved and I was taken aback at how well they seemed to be handling this seemingly horrific news.  I remarked at how well they seemed to be doing and she looked at me and shared with me how blessed she truly was.  She told me that she has great health, a wonderful husband, incredible children and grandchildren.  God had really blessed her in so many ways and she thought this was God’s way of reminding her what was really important.  That was less than 12 hours before I received the call.  Of course, I have thought about them all day.  But now I understand in very clear terms what she means. 

I just want to hold Edie Grace so tight in my arms and thank GOD for the gift that she is to me and DeWayne.  I want to celebrate Garrett’s wonderful life and enjoy the special memories I have of him.  I want to remember all the ways he touched my life.  I want to thank him tonight for helping center me and remind me how precious life really is.  It is a GIFT.

Please remember his mom and dad, Sarah and Neal Reed and his little brother Carter in your prayers.  They will need them. 

One more thing – go now and kiss your husband and your children and tell them how much you love them and how special they are to you.  Then call or email everyone you know and do the same!  Remember Garrett while your doing this.  He is in heaven now.