Keller Family Asks: What Would Derrick Want?

Two weeks after former St. Louis Park baseball star Derrick Keller  following a battle with leukemia, his family is asking "What Would Derrick Want?" as they try to cope with the loss.

In a recent post on CaringBridge, the Keller family says Derrick would "want us to move on and be happy.

"It's going to take a while for that DK, but (we) will try our best. We owe you that."

Here's the full post:

It has now been two weeks since Derrick has passed.Two of the worst weeks Linda and I have ever had to go through. There is nothing that can prepare you for this. My cousin lost her daughter a couple months ago. I felt so bad for her at the wake. At that time Derrick was looking good, so I never thought this could happen to us. I was trying to imagine what my cousin and her husband were going through.

I didn't know how hard this would be. We have had a few laughs in the last two weeks, but they have been a lot less than usual. We will be able to get through because of all the great support we have had. We also are clinging to our faith (which has been severely tested).

We believe that DK is in heaven with Jesus and playing baseball. We also have talked about all the bad things that go on in ones lifetime, and DK will not have to experience any of it. He lived his whole life as a very happy person, and excelled at the thing he loved to do the most in life. How many people can say that?

As I got home from work today, I stopped by Derricks car and stared at it for a while. He was so proud of that car. It was 20 years old, had some rust, and the drivers door doesn't open. All his friends teased him about what a piece of crap that car was. He was proud of the car because he worked a whole summer at a plastics company during the day, and played baseball at night. He did this when he was 15 and saved his money. He paid 800 bucks, and every dime for that car came from him. He worked for it and thats why he was proud. It was all his and thats why we were so proud of him.

DK made quite a mark in the community he lived in. He worked hard at what he did, and he was truely a warm and happy person. He was a proud man and had every right to be.

So as Linda and I struggle through this we are going by WWDW. What Would Derrick Want? Derrick would want us to move on and be happy. It's going to take a while for that DK, but your mom and I will try our best. We owe you that.

You don't have much left when you lose a child. We don't have a big house, we don't have great jobs, we don't have a big bank account, and now we don't have our son. But, we do have something we will treasure for the rest of our lives. 18 wonderful years with the best person Linda and I could of ever asked for.

Derricks story will be told. My brother is retiring from the government in a couple months. He has talked me into writing down a bunch of the stories that made Derrick who he was. I'm going to send them to him. He will edit them and see if we have enough to publish a book about Derrick's journey. DK may be gone but he will never be forgotten.