5th Anniversary Mealer family Christmas Eve Tragedy
5 years ago tonight, Christmas Eve, tragedy befell the Mealer family. In a terrible automobile accident while heading home from a party to attend Christmas Eve worship, Elliott's father Dave Mealer, and girlfriend Hollis Richer lost their lives immediately. A 90 year old man drove through a stop sign and t-boned their car. This was the accident where Brock was paralyzed, and Elliot tore his rotator cuff.
In case you've never seen it, here is an excellent feature that was done on ESPN, and an accompanying article. LINK: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/e60/news/story?id=4534334
Elliott's career truly bookends a challenging time for Michigan. He was recruited by Carr. RR honored the scholarship, even with his injury. And he has played under Hoke the last two years. I believe he is about the last player to be on the team from the Carr era.
It is miraculous how well Elliott and Brock have done, in light of their injuries and terrific loss. Regardless of the OL play, I was so excited to see Elliott start, and do well this year. This may always be a bittersweet holiday for Elliott. I'd imagine it is particularly tough this year, being his last at Michigan. Should you be someone who prays, lift up Elliott and his family this Christmas Eve, wherever they are down in the Tampa area.
December 24th, 2012 at 8:48 PM ^
December 24th, 2012 at 9:40 PM ^
Clearly the OP is not a bastard. Just should have thought deeply about it before he posted. Just like most of my Facebook statuses.
Merry Crimmus, guys.
December 24th, 2012 at 9:56 PM ^
go to the link. All of this was covered publicly.
December 25th, 2012 at 1:27 AM ^
Exactly. I know when I'm reflecting on a tragedy, nothing makes me feel worse than having a community show their support.
December 25th, 2012 at 7:45 AM ^
December 24th, 2012 at 10:19 PM ^
Why would you want to make a commemorative post to a horrible car accident on Christmas Eve? WTF man.
December 25th, 2012 at 1:14 AM ^
I don't think anyone would want to do that, and that's not what he did.
December 25th, 2012 at 10:50 PM ^
You definitely missed something.
It's not commemorating the accident, or at the very least, that is not the intention I think the OP had. Reflect on the amazing recovery of Brock Mealer, his walking down the aisle at his wedding, and the Mealer family's courage, etc. Yes, it is a tragic story, but the miraculous results should be acknowledged. The Mealer family is brave and tenacious, the type of people we want as members of the Michigan family.
December 24th, 2012 at 10:41 PM ^
This event impacted the Michigan community in so many ways. It's not a commemorative, but rather a reminder of the tenacity of a true Michigan man and family. It's also a stark reminder of just how lucky we are during the holiday season where we need to reflect on this.
So with that, I thank you Stephan for posting this and I wish you a happy holidays. As for the rest of you who think otherwise, fuck off and bah humbug.
December 24th, 2012 at 11:05 PM ^
December 24th, 2012 at 11:19 PM ^
And posts like this are why this blog sometimes really fucking sucks
December 25th, 2012 at 12:27 PM ^
Winter is coming.
December 24th, 2012 at 10:51 PM ^
December 24th, 2012 at 10:58 PM ^
December 24th, 2012 at 11:10 PM ^
December 24th, 2012 at 11:17 PM ^
I think I need to take a break from Mgoblog until the football season starts again in 2013. All the incessant bitching about "This topic sucks", "your title sucks", stupid-a$$ replayed memes (Stefon Diggs, Cool story bro, Little brother, grammar policing) really gets old, stopped being funny, and serves no purpose but to reinforce some of the stereotypes of the MIchigan fanbase and of this board itself.
FWIW I was the senior resident at the UMH rehab floor that coordinated the transfer of Brock from Toledo to Michigan. I was at most, peripherally involved in his care (made sure he was medically stable for transport), but was amazed at the attention he got from the RR football staff (RR and staff spent a lot of evening's with Brock and family providing support) and have always been pleased on hearing about his outpatient rehab progress. Most people with his level of spinal cord injury really can't functionally ambulate, and it's a testament to Brock and Coach Barwis' determination to be able to accomplish this feat. Unfortunately, Brock is not an isolated incident, and especially with the type of injuries (blast/shrapnel) sustained by our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, there are a lot of young men with paraplegia out there, so keep them in your thoughts and prayers (and donations to SCI research).
I think OP is just sending out a X-mas reminder to keep the Mealers, who are a legit part of the Michigan family, in our thoughts and prayers over this difficult time for them. Ever little bit helps. It did while Brock was rehabbing; I saw it with my own eyes; why the hell would it not on this anniversary?
Some of you really need to get the fuck over yourselves. Again. Merry fucking Christmas
December 25th, 2012 at 12:16 PM ^
December 25th, 2012 at 1:13 PM ^
December 25th, 2012 at 6:24 PM ^
December 25th, 2012 at 12:35 AM ^
I really didn't think this would be a controversial post. Actually, I will always remember this sad event, because of doing the same thing as the Mealer family and heading to church on Christmas Eve virtually every year of my life.
FTR, in my OP, I really tried to stay with things that were a matter of public record. If you do a simple google search on "elliott mealer" or "brock mealer," you'll find a lot more. Here's a link to a much more extensive story which talks about Brock's prep for his wedding two days ago, 12/22/12: LINK http://www.thepostgame.com/features/201210/brock-mealer-walk-michigan-football-accident-paralyzed-wedding
So, I didn't really speculate on what Brock and Elliott would say today. But if you go through the various articles, you get the clear sense that both would say, "don't feel sorry for me. Through this, I was given the opportunity to give God the glory." Both have said that their faith in God is what got them through. Brock's t-shirt when he led the team onto the field gave "glory to God."
My point is that even in the midst of tragedy, good things can happen. This story, while sad, is one of resilience and strength and triumph over adversity. Both Brock and Elliott give glory to God through their lives. They aren't ashamed of this, and on Christmas Eve of all days, both are glad to point to the reason they can celebrate, even with the losses in their lives. They aren't shy about this, and have shared this publicly, which is why I noted it here at mgoblog.
If anyone is offended, take it up with Mike Barwis, or Elliott Mealer, or Brock Mealer. They can't help but speak about the miracles they have seen and heard.
December 25th, 2012 at 12:55 AM ^
Sometimes you gotta know just when to walk away from a thread, and when to post the five-paragraph essay.
This is far more of the former than the latter.
December 25th, 2012 at 12:43 AM ^
December 25th, 2012 at 12:56 AM ^
Good post. Merry Christmas all. These are the times when we cherish all that we have.
December 25th, 2012 at 1:11 AM ^
There is absolutely nothing wrong with this post. Nice to see the MGoWhinyBitchBrigade out in full force though.
December 25th, 2012 at 1:41 AM ^
December 25th, 2012 at 7:14 AM ^
Thanks for posting this. We need to continue remembering and praying for the Mealer family. Unfortunately, there are some real idiots here, which discourages some of us longtime people from posting more frequently.
December 25th, 2012 at 11:03 PM ^
If you can't say anything nice... .. . Sometimes it is best not to post. Thanks OP for remembering a member of our extended Michigan family and their loss. There is nothing wrong with thinking of the Mealer family on this day and showing some support.
December 26th, 2012 at 11:01 AM ^
This comments in this post are a perfect example of why BiSB quit. I don't even know what to say. The OT was somewhat controversial in that it would be more appropriate for a family member to mention so maybe it wasn't posited in the best way? But still. It was on-topic and informative (as noted above) and people still found a way to be extremely critical, even during the holiday season. <shakes head>
December 26th, 2012 at 5:41 PM ^
You have to have a thick skin. And criticism helps you to improve how you communicate. In this case, I stand behind it being an appropriate post, and so I'm willing to defend it.
However, I'm with you on the trials of being a moderator. Hopefully, the return of the point system will help. Because of the fact that I am an active user and poster, but not a "super-user" like yourself, the points truly don't matter. That is to say, I have no desire to do the amount of posting necessary to gain 10,000 plus points. And I have way more than the threshhold needed to post and be a trusted user. So ergo, points don't matter that much to someone like me. That means that as long as I'm posting relevant material in a respectful way, people can take it or leave it. I don't need the strokes of lots of positive point feedback.
I will say, thanks for your work as a moderator. This has to be a close to thankless task. Unlike Brian and Seth and a few others, you aren't making money off this venture. Maybe you score a t-shirt or two, whatever. But largely, for the benefit of the MGoCommunity, you help police the posts, keeping them from descending into utter chaos. I'd send you a case of beer, if such a gift were possible. Alas, internet beer isn't very satisfying, so a thank you will have to suffice.
December 26th, 2012 at 2:04 PM ^
Hey, I appreciate it. Its not all that bad, although it does force us to focus on the worst posts/posters than enjoying the best. But I try to award points as often as I take them away, which makes it better. Its just a bit frustrating to see the same things happen over and over. Nevertheless, its been fun being a moderator, getting to know more posters, reading more than I would normally read. That said, I am getting tired . . .