Purple balloons filled the sky on Thursday, May 15, some of them carrying messages and wishes, some drifting unburdened in the strong breeze. Below, more than a hundred community members and Auburn sixth graders joined together to honor and send off Andrew Hersmann, the Auburn 12 year old tragically killed in a car crash the week before.
The balloon release was scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Auburn football practice fields and swathes of people showed up with arrays of balloons and stories. Jackie Gfeller led those in attendance in a prayer and an activity to urge them to connect with the strangers around them, and to focus on the memories they might make with them. She spoke about Andrew’s life, his baptism and communion at St. Paul Lutheran Church, as well as his love for gardening and the hard work he did mowing lawns. When she finished addressing the crowd, a moment of silence was had and the balloons were released. The strong winds that evening swept them away in a dazzling purple cloud. Some cried and hugged, others quietly watched the balloons drift away. “Just because someone is not around anymore doesn’t mean they are not a part of our lives,” Gfeller had said, “Andrew is in another place now, and one day, we will see him again.”
Andrew and his step father Alvin loved to garden, and tended a plot about as large as a football field. In honor of Andrew, his para educator Rachel Armintrout plans to continue tending that land, finishing the growing season the two had started and taking the harvest to farmers markets in Bellevue and Council Bluffs, where honorary stalls have been reserved in Andrew’s name. “Growing up on an Iowa farm, the whole community would come together to finish a harvest for someone who’s passed away,” Armintrout explained, “It seems only right to do the same for Andrew.” Those proceeds will be donated, and perhaps used to have a bench set up at Rotary Lake to honor Andrew. Armintrout also hopes to organize visits to Andrew’s farm for his classmates who would like to help. “He’s been growing peppers and potatoes and tomatoes, carrots, peas, onions and leafy greens,” she explained, “And getting into the dirt and working with those plants, getting close with nature and the earth is an incredible way to work through the grief.”
