Jake Ehlinger found dead near campus

[Longboard Horn 40,336]

 

[Longboard Horn 40,336]

#LongLive48

[markstanco 12,577]

 

[CowtownHorn 5,126]

47 minutes ago, Dr. Beeper said:

I don’t know how you can ever overcome the loss of a child. 

I mentioned a couple of pages ago that I lost my sister when she was a freshman in high school. My dad passed away two years ago at the age of 74. I can tell you, he never truly got over it and it stuck with him the last 35 years or so of his life. He was brave for me though and never let me see his real low moments. They’re buried right next to each other now and I drive right past the cemetery every day to and from work. While it was damn tough to lose my dad, it does give me some relief that after all of those years of hurt and pain…he was finally able to be with her again, but this time forever.

[ShaggyBevo RIP 3,868]

2 minutes ago, Dr. Beeper said:

I can’t read about this story, and so don’t know about the cause.  What happened. 

Speculations/rumors are being deleted out of respect for the Ehlinger family.

[BurntOrange&White 39,934]

Lets get this thread to 48 pages and have @immamac close it in honor of Jake and the Ehlinger's!

[Longboard Horn 40,336]

[Richard Kimball 1,495]

14 minutes ago, Dr. Beeper said:

You’d have to put me in the looney bin for awhile. However, I imagine with time, it becomes easier, but a part of you will never be whole again. I watched my grandmother bury two daughters, including my mom, in their 40s. It made her crazy. I think you’ve got to have a special makeup to not be crazy after that. 

If you talk to someone who's lost a child, no matter how long ago the child passed, they always sound like it happened about three months earlier. They may bury their feelings most of the time, but as soon as they think of it, the wound is fresh. 

Had an aunt that lost a child shortly after birth. Until the end of her life, she kept a photo of that child in the casket on her dresser. She was in her seventies when she died.

Was talking to a woman at a funeral, and she told me she'd lost her child (24 or so, but they're always your child.) She told me it was an unusual car wreck, and described it. I realized that I'd made the call, and it was twenty years earlier. Just to be sure, I asked her where it happened, and yep, same car wreck. I didn't tell her I'd responded to that call. When we were talking, I'd assumed the wreck was less than a year ago, the way she described it. 

You're right. Some wounds never completely heal. 

[Machinator 32,099]

From Kenyatta Watson.

Quote

From day 1 we was close, From day 1 you was my dawg and was always down with me and for me. From Those short nights going to each others room after fall camp and feeling dead. To sitting in the car late night talking to each because we felt like there was no one else to go to. i’m hurt man i’m hurt but i love you like you were one of my own and i always will jake. i wish i got to see you when i came back. i wish we got to laugh together one more time. selfishly i’m mad you not here and i wish still were dawg. i done lost so much but i never thought i’d lose someone like you jake i love you. 💙

[Clintonaldo 2,574]

I am leaving to go home in a minute and spend time with my son after seeing these pictures. 

[Machinator 32,099]

Brandon Jones, Jake, Bijan, Sam

[Machinator 32,099]

Jake and Peter Mpagi

[Machinator 32,099]

 

[South Austin 52,520]

1 hour ago, ShaggyBevo RIP said:

Speculations/rumors are being deleted out of respect for the Ehlinger family.

As they should be.  We all want answers for a tragedy like this, and hopefully any further details will come out on the family's own terms.

[Johnny Sack 8,397]

54 minutes ago, Richard Kimball said:

If you talk to someone who's lost a child, no matter how long ago the child passed, they always sound like it happened about three months earlier. They may bury their feelings most of the time, but as soon as they think of it, the wound is fresh. 

Had an aunt that lost a child shortly after birth. Until the end of her life, she kept a photo of that child in the casket on her dresser. She was in her seventies when she died.

Was talking to a woman at a funeral, and she told me she'd lost her child (24 or so, but they're always your child.) She told me it was an unusual car wreck, and described it. I realized that I'd made the call, and it was twenty years earlier. Just to be sure, I asked her where it happened, and yep, same car wreck. I didn't tell her I'd responded to that call. When we were talking, I'd assumed the wreck was less than a year ago, the way she described it. 

You're right. Some wounds never completely heal. 

My grandmother is 87 and lost a daughter at age 19 to the same type of sarcoma that Freddie Steinmark had (in fact she died in the same room as Freddie did at MD Anderson.  She says to this day that the pain is just as raw as it was 45 years ago.

[TrashMaster G 17,565]

3 hours ago, bigup2dahorns said:

I’m sure many of us took Dr. Daly’s class, can’t remember the name of it maybe it was Interpersonal Communications under the title of Speech-some #. One of the most popular classes in all of UT.

One class he discussed life stresses and put up a list of the top 5 or 10. Number one was death of a child IIRC. I never forgot that.

They say that when you have a child, it's like having a piece of your heart live outside your body.  It certainly feels that way.

From the moment I became a father, this was my biggest fear.  My kids are all technically adults now, but I still can't imagine losing one of them.  I don't know how I would be able to function. 

If I could have one wish in the rest of my life, it would be to die before any of them.  Age doesn't matter.

I cannot imagine what she is going through.

[WillUSAF 226]

My dad was married before he married my mom. He had 2 girls and 1 passed away at 3 months old. He never spoke of her but my grandmother did a few times before she passed away. Now that I'm older and wiser I can see that it really affected my dad in how he raised my brother and I and he never got over it (also he was dealing with trauma from Vietnam he never got help for). I am a dad and I will be a grandpa x2 in Sept. I could never ever imagine how I would react if I lost my daughter or my granddaughters. I would probably go insane. My heart just goes out to his Mom....

[WillUSAF 226]

1 minute ago, TrashMaster G said:

They say that when you have a child, it's like having a piece of your heart live outside your body.  It certainly feels that way.

From the moment I became a father, this was my biggest fear.  My kids are all technically adults now, but I still can't imagine losing one of them.  I don't know how I would be able to function. 

If I could have one wish in the rest of my life, it would be to die before any of them.  Age doesn't matter.

I cannot imagine what she is going through.

That is my wish too

[Machinator 32,099]

 

[ajax 2,618]

1 hour ago, Richard Kimball said:

If you talk to someone who's lost a child, no matter how long ago the child passed, they always sound like it happened about three months earlier. They may bury their feelings most of the time, but as soon as they think of it, the wound is fresh.

I remember an interview with a homeless man who had a regular life until his young son died and he couldn't keep it together and ended on the street for over a decade.

The interviewer asked him if he could have one wish what would it be. This guy, destitute and living in the street, said all he wants is his son back, and then broke and started crying.

[BonzoMontreaux 1,060]

9 minutes ago, TrashMaster G said:

They say that when you have a child, it's like having a piece of your heart live outside your body.  It certainly feels that way.

From the moment I became a father, this was my biggest fear.  My kids are all technically adults now, but I still can't imagine losing one of them.  I don't know how I would be able to function. 

If I could have one wish in the rest of my life, it would be to die before any of them.  Age doesn't matter.

I cannot imagine what she is going through.

 

My first wife's mother passed away at the age of 60.  She was survived by her mom (wife's grandmother) who was in her eighties.  Needless to say, wife's grandmother was devastated.  It struck me then and has stayed with me for 35 plus years how the loss of a child affects a parent no matter the age of child.  

God bless the Ehlinger family.  

On a side note, we can learn a lot about family and community by observing the responses from Jake's teammates.  Beautiful and moving.  

As other's have pointed out, leave no "I love you"s or other kind words unsaid. 

[bigup2dahorns 3,343]

[Funk Doctor Spock 12,417]

11 hours ago, Rimbo said:

ok, this broke me

Same, brother. 

[Funk Doctor Spock 12,417]

6 hours ago, TexLonghorn said:

 

This is awesome. That's an amazing thing to do. 

[Funk Doctor Spock 12,417]

4 hours ago, Lidig8r said:

When a parent has a beloved child taken from them, the grief, the immediate shock, the emotional pain that manifests itself in physical pain is incomprehensible. 5 years ago, my then 23 year daughter was taken. At least for me, it was not all that unexpected. I could prepare a bit. But, when the tragedy is sudden ... and unexpected, you experience something different.

Now granted, a person's grief is as unique as our fingerprints. It manifests itself in different ways. For some, that grief destroys them. For others, it defines them in a negative way the rest of their lives. 20 years after the fact, they talk of the event as if it had happened the day before. And yet still for others, eventually it fills them with incredible purpose and resolve.

For whatever the cause, Sam and Jake's mom had her heart and soul ripped apart. For any parent, our biggest fear is that our child will be taken before us. But to have to live that fear is a daily burden. I truly hope, and sincerely pray, that one day, Jake's mom will be able to embrace the loving reality that her son Jake gave others so much joy, not just because he played football and was a good kid, but by his passing, Jake is teaching us even more about the grace to love our children more fully and openly, to embrace each day with more passion and resolve and to not let fear be our masters but instead to inspire us to greater deeds.

It is with a sad heart that I embrace Jake's mom into a club that no parent should ever have to belong. You are not alone.

My daughter passed when she was 1 suddenly, and that was 14 years ago. It never gets better, you just learn to live with it. Sorry for your loss, brother. 

[smwhorn 482]

Just unbelievably tragic.  RIP Jake.  

[Machinator 32,099]

 

[TreatyOak 16,366]

21 minutes ago, Spider2YBanana said:

My daughter passed when she was 1 suddenly, and that was 14 years ago. It never gets better, you just learn to live with it. Sorry for your loss, brother. 

I am so very, very sorry for your loss. That is heartbreaking. 

[South Austin 52,520]

27 minutes ago, Spider2YBanana said:

My daughter passed when she was 1 suddenly, and that was 14 years ago. It never gets better, you just learn to live with it. Sorry for your loss, brother. 

Never knew this.  My heart aches as a parent to all of you who've lost a child.  It's my worst fear in life.

[Teamdirtyleg 1,060]

34 minutes ago, Spider2YBanana said:

My daughter passed when she was 1 suddenly, and that was 14 years ago. It never gets better, you just learn to live with it. Sorry for your loss, brother. 

I can’t even imagine your loss.  How horrible.  I gave you a middle finger by accident because the tears welling up in my eyes made it look like a hookem.  Glad I caught it.  

[SubliminalHorn 6,806]

Terrible. Can’t imagine their pain today and for the rest of their days. 

🤘 for Jake 
 

 

[jdhorn92 1,552]

I remember when Cole Pittman died and subsequently read his father's book a few years after that.  That was tragic then and this one is brutal too.  I was at the UNC game where Major took the knee to preserve 44 on the scoreboard.  I hope we hang 48 in a W vs Louisanna.

[South Austin 52,520]

14 minutes ago, jdhorn92 said:

I was at the UNC game where Major took the knee to preserve 44 on the scoreboard. 

I was there, too.  We kinda forgot about Cole for a while as we were kicking UNC's ass, but the stadium got real somber when the scoreboard hit 44.  That was also three days before 9/11.

[NorthLoop 14,215]

14 minutes ago, South Austin said:

I was there, too.  We kinda forgot about Cole for a while as we were kicking UNC's ass, but the stadium got real somber when the scoreboard hit 44.  That was also three days before 9/11.

Yep. That was a surreal moment. 

 

 

[Lidig8r 1,873]

35 minutes ago, jdhorn92 said:

I remember when Cole Pittman died and subsequently read his father's book a few years after that.  That was tragic then and this one is brutal too.  I was at the UNC game where Major took the knee to preserve 44 on the scoreboard.  I hope we hang 48 in a W vs Louisanna.

 

[bigup2dahorns 3,343]

[Lhorn 4,916]

22 minutes ago, NorthLoop said:

Yep. That was a surreal moment. 

 

 

I remember that game. Had for gotten that it was just before THE 9/11. 

[used2b 249]

This is unfathomable for that family. I cannot even.

[4th and 5 4,914]

7 touchdowns in game 1, @AGENT0__ wears 48. Book it.

RIP 🤘 48

 

[Machinator 32,099]

 

[pacman 7,359]

[jdhorn92 1,552]

1 hour ago, South Austin said:

I was there, too.  We kinda forgot about Cole for a while as we were kicking UNC's ass, but the stadium got real somber when the scoreboard hit 44.  That was also three days before 9/11.

I have never thought about  9/11 being that close on the calendar.  Crazy to think it was only a few days later.  RIP 44 and now 48.

[Longboard Horn 40,336]

What needs to happen come September 4th: we need to thrash Louisiana by scoring seven touchdowns on them. After the seventh touchdown is scored, go for two and just have Casey or Hudson take a knee. 48 points to honor Jake the same way Major Applewhite took a knee 20 years ago to keep the score at 44 to honor Cole Pittman.

[Longboard Horn 40,336]

1 hour ago, South Austin said:

I was there, too.  We kinda forgot about Cole for a while as we were kicking UNC's ass, but the stadium got real somber when the scoreboard hit 44.  That was also three days before 9/11.

I was there too.  So crazy to think that was the last Saturday before 9/11 

[Longboard Horn 40,336]

Huge prayers for Jena. No mother should have to go through this.

[Longboard Horn 40,336]

[Valmy77 13,245]

I am still struggling with disbelief at this news. It is so sudden and tragic and just when we were all celebrating his brother being drafted. I know we were all looking forward to seeing Jake around on the sideline and so forth and it will be a hole in the hearts of all Longhorn Fans.
 

My nephew passed suddenly last year and my family has struggled with it ever since. I cannot imagine the pain and sadness of the Ehlinger family after losing two beloved family members in such a brief period. My thoughts and prayers are with them and Horns up.

[Nomansland 47]

.....

[smwhorn 482]

1 hour ago, bigup2dahorns said:

 

Hard to say it any better than this . . . . .

[Nivek 16,945]

3 hours ago, BonzoMontreaux said:

 

My first wife's mother passed away at the age of 60.  She was survived by her mom (wife's grandmother) who was in her eighties.  Needless to say, wife's grandmother was devastated.  It struck me then and has stayed with me for 35 plus years how the loss of a child affects a parent no matter the age of child.  

God bless the Ehlinger family.  

On a side note, we can learn a lot about family and community by observing the responses from Jake's teammates.  Beautiful and moving.  

As other's have pointed out, leave no "I love you"s or other kind words unsaid. 

Debbie Reynolds died the day after Carrie Fisher died.