Harrison Roger Blonigen

Hi everyone – I’m Harrison’s father, Brian. I know already this will be hard for me to get

through, so please bear with me.

I know it doesn’t look like it from the outside whenever my crazy family of six comes

walking into a room, but for years my wife and I struggled to have children. In fact, we had 5

full years of failure and misery, with many rough patches throughout, but honestly we never

gave up hope of one day being able to become amazing parents.

Then, one day in 2016, everything worked, and our amazing son Barrett was born! It was, at

the time, the best day of our lives. I’m pretty sure he knows this, so I don’t mind saying it in

front of him, but he immediately became spoiled. After what we had gone through, and with

him being the first grandchild on both sides – it was hard to not constantly shower him with

love… through toys and games and everything else.

For almost two years he was the only child, and the glorious day, only 5 short years ago,

when God blessed us with Harrison, I was worried Barrett would tell us to send him back.

Not only did that not happen, but instead Barrett hugged his little brother, fell in love with

him, and made everyone smile bigger than ever before. And suddenly, that was the best day

of our lives! Hopefully you saw it in all the pictures, but Harrison absolutely adored his

older brother.

Fast forward a year and a half, and our chunk of a third son (and I say that lovingly),

Hendrick, was born. He was a joyful addition to the family, but did make Meghan and I

switch to zone coverage instead of man-to-man defense, as we were outnumbered. As

stressful as it can be running around after three kids, there was a day where Harrison held

his little brother, told him he loved him, and kissed him on the head… and suddenly, that

was the best day of our lives. Harrison had a bigger brother to look up to, and a younger

partner-in-crime, and life was good.

Fast forward a little further in life, and unbelievably those 5 years of not having children

had faded away and turned into 6 years of the opposite, with Meghan miraculously being

pregnant and due in the Spring of 2022. My parents’ joke, as I’m the younger of just two kids

in the family, was that they had me so that they could have an even 4 in the family to play

cards. Well for me, an even 6 was the goal, and if somehow the child was a girl, all the more

sweet for the final addition to our family.

And clearly, last Spring, baby girl Brooklyn joined the family, and I have never seen three

boys all instantaneously fall in love like those three Big Bro Protection Co. brothers did

when they first saw her. The fighting amongst them suddenly turned into who could hold

her, or who could grab her bottle, or who could try to make her giggle. And again, we

suddenly had the best day of our lives upon us.

Everyone here has gotten to know Harrison, at least a little bit. He truly was the high-

energy, non-stop, live life to the fullest human being. He soaked up everything I could teach

him, and everything anyone else was willing to share. He had an amazing daycare provider,

and couldn’t wait to share with me everything he had learned, or made, that day. He had

amazing grandparents that gave him experiences that Meghan and I alone could not do. He

had amazing uncles, aunts, and cousins, all of whom he loved playing with, and all of whom

made him feel loved. He had amazing coaches, teammates, and the overall hockey family,

and that truly was the joy of his life ever since he first put his skates to the ice. He had

amazing friends all around, and Meghan and I could not be more thankful. He crammed 15

years worth of activity into his 5 short years, and I’m now so thankful he did.

To Brooklyn – You had an amazing older brother, that loved you so so much, and we’ll make

sure you’ll know more about him as you get older.

To Hendrick – As much as I wish I could just call Harrison on my phone like you asked the

other day to tell him about the beautiful colored moth you saw, or whatever the next

exciting thing is in life that you want to share with him, I can’t. But we can pray together,

and I know Harrison will be listening and loving what you want to share with him.

To Barrett – You’ve been a rock throughout this last week, and have handled everything so

well. I am so proud of you. Harrison could not have asked for a better bigger brother. You

meant more to him than you’ll ever know, and please don’t ever forget how much he loved

you.

To Meghan – We’ll get through this babe. Our family needs us now more than ever, and we

have God, we have each other, and we have all of these wonderful people helping us. There

will be glorious days ahead of us again.

And finally, to Harrison – I love you bud. You were truly one-of-a-kind, and gave this world

and our family the best 5 years imaginable. Someday, we’ll be together again… and that will

be the best day ever.