Parents, a princess and a pirate

Yesterday was Derek's funeral. It was very hard but we made it through. I thought the services were going to be at our church, Chapel Rock, but they were at another church, Chapel Hill UMC. We got there at 4:30 for the viewing and the funeral was at 7:00. There were a lot of wrestlers already there and many more came later. There were two pews reserved for the team and they were squished in them.
The line for the viewing was long when we got there and got even longer, estimated wait time at the end was 2 hours. The church was packed, standing room only. Derek touched a lot of lives. One of his teachers spoke, also a co-worker. His 4 best friends each talked for a few minutes too. Alan also spoke, it was hard to listen to him. He made it through to almost the end without breaking down. Then they played a country song and showed a video of pictures of Derek. That's when everyone lost it. The family was crying hard and hugging, the wrestlers were hanging their heads and sobbing. Brett and I were just holding each other with tears running down our faces. The minister then spoke and he did a good job. He talked about how the family and friends would need comfort in the upcoming months. And he offered an invitational at the end. I prayed hard that God would open some hearts and perhaps someone would accept Him.
Afterwards, we went to dinner at McGilvery's with the other coaches. We were all starving since we hadn't eaten any dinner. It was good to talk to everyone. We came up with some ideas to memorialize Derek.
So this morning, I was thinking about things and got the idea to write Coach Dungy and tell him about Derek. So I wrote this letter:

Dear Mr. Dungy,

I am writing you today to tell you about a special young man, Derek Beall. I've know Derek for seven years, my husband has been his wrestling coach throughout junior high and high school. Derek was a co-captain of the Ben Davis wrestling team, member of the Indiana Wrestling Coaches All State Academic Team (one of only three Marion County kids), member of the National Honor society and was working on finishing his Eagle scout requirements. He also was a very big Colts fan. His MySpace page has Peyton Manning all over it and he always wore his Joseph Addai jersey on Blue Friday!

Tragically, Derek took his own life on February 16th. I have been friends with Derek's mother, Diane. We always sit with each other during the wrestling meets, cheering the team on. I visited with Diane this weekend and she told me that during a time like this there is a fine line between blaming God and digging deep into her faith to get her through this.

I know you lost your son James and your faith in God has helped you during that time. I also know that you are a very busy man. But I was writing to see if you had a moment to write a note to Diane and her surviving son, Justin. Maybe you could share how your Christian faith helped you cope with the loss of James. I think it would really help her at this time.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. Enclosed is a copy of Derek's obituary so you can read what a wonderful young man he was. Below is Diane's contact information.

Thanks again,




Mary Nabb


I don't know if he'll do anything with it but it would be great if he did contact Diane somehow.



Well, there are other things in my life right now. K's parent/teacher conference is today. We'll get an update on how she is doing and what she needs to work on. M has his 9 month appt tomorrow. After that, we're driving to Detroit to see my friend Sara for a few days. I'm looking forward to that. It's a long trip but I've only been up there once so I feel like I need to go again. It's looking good for her moving back in the next few months too.

I guess that's about it for now.