Broken hearts and fond memories

The deeper the joy, the more devastating the heartbreak.
The journey across this life brings a mixture of both and somehow we must be strong enough to hold it all. This past week has been one of the most painful moments in time for this small community, as we said our good-byes to a well-loved boy.
Logan was on his way to school Tuesday morning, a cold but sunny day. He hadn’t taken the time to scrape the heavy frost off of his windshield before heading down his family’s long lane. He called his mom to tell her his little brother had just missed the bus. She said she would take his brother to school.
Logan turned out of their lane, heading straight east in to blinding sun beating down on his frost-covered windshield. Just a mile or two from home, at the bottom of a steep hill, he never saw the stopped school bus and his car ended up pinned underneath it.
Safe evacuation. All of the students were evacuated safely from the bus and taken to a nearby barn before a fire broke out.
The unimaginable heartache of losing such a wonderful son, brother, grandson, nephew and incredible friend has stunned this community.
Logan Busch was the most adorable boy – always smiling, always reaching out with a story or a great burst of orneriness that left everyone around him smiling. This beautiful boy had grown in to a strikingly handsome young man, and at 17, he was a leader in his junior class at Hillsdale.
In this small community, it is rare to hear a name and not be able to place a face. Even so, Logan had always stood out above the rest. It was impossible to see Logan and not find yourself smiling.
Seeing Logan’s impish grin sort of made a person chuckle and wonder, “Oh, boy, what’s he up to now?”
Even on a bad day, Logan could bring a smile to anyone’s face, just by sharing one of his own. His buddies tell the story, in eighth grade, when very official-looking notices were posted around the school. “No football practice on Friday due to prior obligations.”
On Monday, the coach wanted to know why no one had shown up for practice. After making them run laps and push the weighted sled up the hill dozens of times, with more laps threatened, Logan admitted he had just wanted to go to a new student’s house after school that day to make him feel welcome.
Official. The classmate who shared the story said, “That notice looked so official! And the word ‘obligations’? We didn’t think Logan even knew that word!”
They all laughed about that one for a very long time.
My daughter grew up with Logan. I have pictures of them together from preschool and in the years that followed. The two had shared so many good times, stories and laughter. Caroline has a box of notes she saved from Logan over the years. Nearly every note he ever wrote to her starts with, “Hey Pal