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“It makes you appreciate life just a little bit more because you never know when it’s gonna happen.”

Richie Hall, 58, took a leave of absence from the Bombers for a couple weeks and missed two games — a loss in Saskatchewan and a win over the Montreal Alouettes at home last Saturday.

He returned to practice this week and is focused on trying to figure out a way to stop Bo Levi Mitchell and the Stampeders in Calgary on Saturday. For once, that’s a nice diversion from other things on his mind.

“If that’s the worst thing that’s gonna happen — us playing the Stampeders this week — then that’s a pretty good thing,” Richie said.

“It makes it somewhat easier just because you’ve got something else to do. You can’t spend your time moping and feeling sorry for yourself. You’ve got to pick yourself up and go forward.”

It’s not easy.

Michael was Richie’s only brother and his death, at age 57, was just so unexpected.

Michael loved football and always followed Richie’s teams, along with his beloved Dallas Cowboys.

Retired from the police force, Michael was working as a resource officer at an elementary school. His death affected more people than just his immediate family.

“He had a lot of interaction with the kids,” Richie said. “All of a sudden there’s one person who’s not there and how do you explain that? How do they understand? It’s not like he went away on a vacation. He’s gone.

“I got a chance to meet some of them. They were taking it pretty hard.”

Back in Winnipeg, members of the Blue Bombers family were missing one of their own, but by no means was anyone pressuring Richie to return.