I met Lance in middle school through my best friend, Kristin ?? My father passed when I was 12, and Lance, Mimi, and Papa treated me like a part of the family immediately. Through them, I learned compassion, patience, forgiveness, and what it means to be joyful. Lance taught me so much about the outdoors; I was fortunate enough to go to Enchanted Rock with him (where i got stung by a bee and he magically whipped up a concoction from various plants that took away the pain!) and hung on his every word. He shared my love of animals and always encouraged me to go to Texas A&M to become a vet. I taught with Lance before he moved to Wichita Falls, and during that time, my eldest fell in love with him and would beg to go to his room and ‘help him’ with his creatures. Although I’m sure he was more work than help, Lance would drop everything and give an impromptu science lesson. He was the most intelligent, most loving, most understanding man I’ve ever known. When i was about 16, he caught me smoking a cigarette on the side of Mimi and Papa’s house and instead of lecturing me, explained to me how addictive nicotine was. I had never experienced a parent figure teaching me instead of being mad at my behaviour. That shaped how I parent, along with telling my boys to make good choices, and loving on them and telling them I love them often enough that they get quite annoyed. Lance touched my life. He made me a better person, a more confident young girl, a better parent. I was so very fortunate to be loved by the Troegle family, and am forever grateful to Lance for being a father figure to me when I needed it the most.