The obituary in this Saturdays Toledo Blade caught my eye. It started “Ohio State lost one of its most dedicated fans.” It went on to explain that James Grau of Toledo passed away on April 19, 2007 and that Mr. Grau had not missed a home OSU Football game in 55 years. I never had the privilege of meeting Mr. Grau, but I very much wish I had! His string of consecutive home games would have started when I was one year old! Imagine! Imagine the history he saw made, the memories he forged, the happenings he experienced in the Shoe. I would have loved to have had the chance for him to talk into my tape recorder and preserve those memories for others to cherish.

I know there are other Jim Grau’s out there. If you know of someone who has been going to games for a very long time, please put me in touch with them or help me by providing their contact information. I can travel to visit (or call) them and sit down with my trusty recorder and let them in their own words share their memories of the Shoe for generations yet to come.

And, in tribute to Jim Grau, in reading his obituary it came as no surprise to learn that this loyal Buckeye fan was also “a teacher, a coach, and an enricher of lives.”