#HalesYeah

First off, I want to thank all of you who suggested some topics I should write about. I'll try to get to some of them in the near future.

...

The other day (July 24th, 2014) I had a meeting with my boss about an interview that my co-workers and I had for a different position.

After the meeting was over, as I was opening the door on my way out, my boss asked me about the purple bracelet I have on my right wrist.

My first thought was, "He probably thinking it's purple. It's probably inappropriate for work." So on and so forth.

I explained who and what the bracelet was for, and after I told him, he said "I'm glad I asked about it."

...

For those of you who don't know, I have a purple bracelet.

The purple represents the favorite color of the person who is engraved on this bracelet, Haley Rinaldi.

Haley was one of the student-athletes at Mount Mercy University, which is where I met her.

Personally, I didn't really know Haley that much. I probably had a handful of conversations with her.
I remember one conversation I had with her was with one of my roommates, and that we were all going to go visit her hometown one day, which is Aspen, Colorado.

Another time I kind-of, sort-of talked to her was during the summer of 2013 in Iowa, on the day before she left to Aspen for a little bit during the summer. She told some of us she was going to hang out with her family and would be back in a week or so.

Couple of days later on July 26th, 2013, everyone in the Mount Mercy community heard horrible news that Haley was involved in a freak boating accident and her life was taken away.

It was terrifying when my friends and I heard the news just a couple of days after we saw her. All I saw was everyone sitting on the couch with their faces dragging to the floor with sadness along with mine...

Now every time I look at this bracelet, I think of how I could have talked and became better friends with Haley. It's a personal reminder for myself to not be shy and not be afraid to talk to someone because you never know if you can make an impact in their life or not and vise versa. And from what I know and heard, Haley was that game changer.

Thanks for watching over every single one of us, Haley.


Jun


"Life is too short. Hug the people you love most and tell them "I love you" because you never know when you'll get to tell them that and see them again."


R.I.P. Haley Rinaldi 9/20/91 -7/26/13