By now, anyone affected has heard of the death of Ian Pope on Tuesday, December 23, 2008. Ian died as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident on an icy road; two of his friends who were in the car survived the crash. Losing Ian has been a tremendous blow to all of us who knew him- coaches, teachers, classmates, friends, teammates, and family are struggling to come to grips with this horrible news.
Ian was a special "target" here on Fotofink for several reasons. I have the pleasure of meeting a lot of parents and players with this project, and I have to admit that the Popes have been among my favorites. Watching Ian play this year was a treat- it was just last year that he was one of the young guys, cheerfully succumbing to the hazing ritual of the chain-link fence wedgie. This year, he grew into a clear team leader, stepping up not only his play but his role with the team. Head balls usually make for good pictures, and Ian became dominant in the air this past season. I joked with his Mom at one point during the year that almost all of my pictures of Ian were of him winning head balls- the kind of plays that take as much heart as skill to make. The best example of his heart came near the end of the season. As Holy Redeemer battled for a district playoff spot, games became more and more important. Ian hurt his knee in the win over Crestwood to push the team to Districts; the following day he could barely walk as he made his way to his classes. Ian was the sort of player who gave all, and in spite of the injury he played in the district game a few days later. This was no small feat; click here to revisit my thoughts at that time. Weeks later, at a dome game, Ian was still not healed fully. I remarked to his Mom how he was visibly limping when the ball was far away, but as the play got closer, there was no sign of the injury- as if he could flick a switch to find a way to play when he needed to. He was a player... a leader... a captain.
While his play on the field was how I knew him best, my family also knew Ian as a friend and a student. It is no surprise that a player this respected on the field was also a terrific person off the field as well. Ian had a smile to light up a room, and a cheerful attitude that brought it out often. Everyone who knew Ian was better for it.
So what now? How do we adjust to life without Ian Pope? To some extent, we can't. There is a hole in our hearts that perhaps will never heal. A family will never be the same, school will feel emptier, and the soccer community will never know what excitement could have been ahead for a rising star. As much as we all feel worse with Ian's passing, I'll suggest that this is a time to count the blessings we have. We are all lucky to have known Ian to whatever extent we did. Our world and each of our lives are a little richer for the time he was here. We are in the middle of the holiday season, hopefully spending time with our own families. Appreciate your loved ones every day, for as we have seen, life is precious and can change in an instant.
You may already know that I have set up a gallery on the photo site of all of Ian's pictures from the last 2 seasons. Click here to access the gallery. In addition, I have set up this slide show that I hope can be a remembrance of a fine young man. Feel free to download, save, share any of this material. I hope it helps us to keep Ian in our hearts.
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