The winners of the auction, Alby and Heather Rose, drove 1,200 miles from Houston for the meet and greet. The two were Hurricanes season ticket holders until their jobs moved them to Texas in 2004. Alby did not tell his wife he was bidding on the event, but she was delighted to learn their $5,100 bid secured the prize. Better still, Alby’s employer matched the donation.
“It was absolutely worth it,” Heather said. “The Grayson Murray Foundation is important to us. We only came up for this event.”
Her husband also recognized that their contribution to the event outweighed the excitement of a moment with the Stanley Cup.
“Sure, it’s great to see Jaccob, and it’s great to see and touch the Stanley Cup,” Alby said. “But in my own family, I’ve had people who have dealt with severe depression, addiction, and alcoholism. Seeing a foundation in place that can provide hope when there may not be hope, it’s something that really resonated with me.”
The couple spent their morning alongside Eric Murray, Grayson’s father. For a man with so much on his heart, he easily explained how the grief and the gratitude could exist side by side.
“For Alby and Heather to drive all the way from Houston, it wouldn’t have happened if it hadn’t been for Jaccob,” Eric said. “Every single day is a memory. At every stop light, we may see something. The first thing my wife saw on her car today was a butterfly. There seems to be a lot of butterflies around our house. It’s a symbol of Grayson. Almost every day, there is something very important that shows us Grayson is still here, still guiding us. We know what he wants done. We’re steadfast in trying to accomplish it.”