Greenleaf: Blessed to still be here – and thankful to all of you

On the late morning of May 6, 2022, I thought it was it for me.

As I heard my smoke detector go off, I knew something bad was happening.

Then I walked into my living room, smoke was everywhere, I could barely breathe, and I tried my very best not to panic.

I knew I had to get out. I had seconds.

Quickly gathering some important items of mine, I raced as fast as I could, kind of like my high school cross country career from a long time ago. But I didn’t have much time.

The clock was ticking, the smoke was getting even worse, and I had no way out as my stairwell was blocked off by the smoke and fire.

I thought my life was about to be over.

But then I improvised, kind of like any average Joe would do if they were trying to escape their way out of a fire in a two-story building.

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

To my blessing, there was this random stick in my bedroom, so I smashed it through my window.

Then came the scariest part – the jump.

And man, did I have to gamble. I had to put more on the line than any Vegas sports bettor would.

I held my breath, I positioned myself, and I jumped out of that sucker more athletically than Tarzan could ever imagine.

Onto the ground, safely. Well, except for the part where I found out I broke my foot a couple hours later.

I was safe, but I had to make my way around what looked like a warzone instead of a random complex in a beautiful neighborhood.

I couldn’t quite fathom what had just happened as I pulled my sweatshirt hood over my head, put my head down and just stared into the ground.

But thankfully, help arrived a couple minutes later. The medics were there to take me over to the hospital.

I was going to be OK, but I still couldn’t figure out what had just happened.

A few hours later, I was done with all the tests, all the X-rays, all the scans. I was back outside, albeit it was tough as hell to walk on those darn crutches.

I’ve really been reluctant to talk about what occurred on what was the scariest day of my life, but I felt I owed it to all of you to finally come clean a little bit.

Because as I laid down in that ambulance, then arrived for all the hospital stuff, I didn’t really think about the Sammons St. fire. I didn’t really think about the fact that I had just lost everything.

I thought about all of you.

All the great people in this wonderful Northern Michigan community I’ve had the chance of meeting.

All the great student-athletes and teams I’ve been fortunate enough to cover.

All the great coaches I’ve worked with.

All the great athletic directors I’ve worked with.

All the awesome parents I’ve had a chance to mingle with at games, whether it be volleyball, football, hockey, soccer, baseball or whatever sport is going on during that season.

As we enter a new year, I just wanted to thank all of you.

For all the kindness, all the support, all the donations sent, all the cards mailed, all the phone calls, all the texts, all the social media messages.

All of it.

When I arrived in Northern Michigan as a young sports writer in 2010, I had no idea what this community would be like.

Several years later, I sincerely call it the greatest community on Earth.

That’s what you people mean to me.

And while I’ll never stop thanking any of you, I also wanted to thank those most close to me, the ones who helped me get through a difficult situation in the eight weeks following my foot surgery and recovery.

My parents. My mom and dad, who were the ones who drove two-and-a-half hours up north to come scoop me up on that very difficult day.

You can’t beat great parents, and my mom and dad are certainly that. And that goes for my family and friends all across the state, who might’ve talked to me over the phone, sent me a text or provided any other sort of communication to help keep my spirits up. I’m so incredibly thankful.

Throughout the recovery process, my parents were always there to take me up to Gaylord for X-rays, take me back up to Petoskey for a check on the foot, then take me back up to Boyne City for surgery, while listening to the Beatles along the way. My dad has always had the best taste in music.

They are absolutely the best.

I’m also thankful for a wonderful couple in Brett and Katie Mallory, who were there to comfort me and provide me support as I waited for my parents to come get me. After all that had gone on over those six or seven hours before I left, they were there for me, and they could not have been any nicer and more helpful.

Then, I was gone for a little while.

There were times when it was rough, but thankfully I was able to work from my original home in Bay City as my company sent me a new computer. That’s all I needed – and I’m thankful for that.

The months of May and June were quite difficult, as I had to wait for my foot to heel, wait to get my cast off, and then endure all the physical pain as I tried to walk around places. It wasn’t fun, but I made it through.

Then, the day to return finally arrived.

It was a gorgeous early-July Saturday morning, 7 a.m., in fact, and I was ready to get rolling back up to Cheboygan. And I think my parents were ready for me to go, too.

A few hours later, I was living in my new place, starting over after losing everything from the previous one. I also wanted to give thanks to Jody Kosanke, who knew of a place to live and contacted Adam Schulz, who was able to get me signed up quickly. Thank you both.

After six months of living back up here, I’ve never felt so good.

I’ve never had so much fun with sports writing.

I’ve never had so much fun interacting with athletes, coaches, parents and everyone else.

As many of you know, I was a bit of a long-distance running junkie before all of this happened. Unfortunately, those days might be over due to my foot being the way it is, but I’ve found the greatest alternative there is – walking.

If you think this mid-30's guy looked fast running down the streets of Cheboygan, you should see my competitive drive when it comes to something like walking.

So yes, life is pretty good at the moment.

I just felt it was time to say what kind of needed to be said.

Life’s full of surprises, and I had one on May 6.

I got lucky – very lucky.

But I’m here, I’m healthy, and I’m happy to be saying Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you. Anyone who helped take care of me, from paramedics to family to friends to co-workers and to anyone else. I’m also thankful that my former neighbors all ended up being OK as well.

One last time – from the bottom of my heart, to all of you – thank you so much for everything.

Sincerely, the Sammons St. Jumpman.

Jared Greenleaf is the sports editor of the Cheboygan Daily Tribune. He can be reached at jgreenleaf@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Jared Greenleaf: Blessed to still be here – and thankful to all of you