Today, a Special Little Boy 'Got His Angel Wings'

If you’re searching for the answer to “how can something like this happen?,” you will never never find it.

Five-year-old Chad Carr, who battled valiantly against an aggressive and rare form of brain cancer, “got his angel wings,” according to a post his mother, Tammi Carr, wrote on Facebook earlier today. He passed away at 1:21 p.m.

“He left the earth peacefully and is now running and jumping in heaven,” she wrote. “It is well with his soul.”

Chad Carr, the grandson of former University of Michigan head football coach Lloyd Carr and UM All-American Tom Curtis, worked his way into the hearts of Michigan football fans and almost everyone who who heard the story of his brave battle.

So, if you’re trying to find the answer to how something like this could happen to a blonde-haired little boy who should have a lifetime ahead of him, let me tell you again, you won’t find it.

You won’t find it because there is no answer to be found.

More questions ... but one answer is clear.

He will never know the many things of life that all of us have experienced in some way, have enjoyed, have even taken for granted.

Cancer, Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Giloma (DIPG) to be more exact, has robbed him of time, of memories, of the long life he deserved to enjoy, to live.

Whenever this happens, there are always more questions than answers.

But please, don’t ask yourself what his life meant?

Don’t ask yourself why he was here, even if it was for far too brief of a time.

That, friends, has a very clear and resounding answer.

In five years, Chad Carr managed to accomplish what each of us strive our entire lifetimes, decades, to do — and that’s to matter.

Chad Carr’s life mattered.

It made a difference.

The world is a better place for him having been in it.

His impact is everywhere

He inspired rival football teams to come together.

The basketball coaches from UM and rival Ohio State University came together last year to decorate the family’s home for the holidays.

The bands at Michigan State University and UM, after last year’s football game, joined together and quietly formed the word #Chadtough” on the field.

He inspired the launch of a foundation (The Chad Tough Foundation) whose reach will benefit who knows how many people, children included, in the future.

His story moved many to tears and helped countless people appreciate their own children and family just a little more.

And this list, this legacy of his life, will continue to grow.

Chad’s life is but the seed of tree that will grow and branch out to all corners of the world, for a length of time that exceeds all of us.

Today, the world sheds a tear, carries a heavy heart and sends prayers and condolences to the family.

Tomorrow, Chad’s life will continue to touch so many for so long.

So please, don’t get hung up on how this could happen.

Instead, focus on the why Chad Carr’s life mattered… because it most certainly did.

Godspeed, Chad. Godspeed.