Looking out the window as I was grabbing a cup of coffee, on an early morning in Wisconsin, I saw a leaf fall.

It fluttered toward the light post, then away and settled on the cement sidewalk. It inched down the sidewalk then suddenly veered backwards into the edge of the grass where is got caught on the dead grass that was reaching over to try to retake the sidewalk for the lawn.

I raised my cup for a sip and suddenly the leaf broke free from aggressive grass and sprinted down the sidewalk, over the driveway and into the woods.

You weren’t there. You couldn’t see the stiff curls of the oak leaf. You didn’t know that part of the leaf was already torn away. I didn’t tell you the leaf tried three times before it finally broken free of the grass and raced down the sidewalk – first sliding then tumbling when caught on the asphalt of the driveway. Or that it lifted off the ground before it hitting the grass and sailed airborne again before being enveloped by the trees of the woods.

But now you can imagine, and that fallen leaf has now been shared.

So, you didn’t know Ralf or see his heart. You don’t know how many times he tripped or how many smiles he made. How many tears he bore nor how many lives he touched. How much laughter he shared or how much anger he showed. But know he touched many hearts and mine will never be the same because of him.

– so he has now been shared.