For Spillville’s Becky and Jeremy Walz and their family, the past year has been one of the most difficult as Jeremy suffered a stroke in March that left him fighting for his life. Despite the many challenges encountered, the family is extra thankful this holiday season to be able to celebrate together. (Zakary Kriener photo)
Walz family thankful despite life-changing year
Zakary Kriener
News Writer
zkriener@fayettepublishing.com
In the past eight months, Spillville couple Jeremy and Becky Walz and their family have seen their world flip upside down. It was March 8 when 45-year-old Jeremy suffered a stroke that left him with an initial prognosis that he would likely not be able to live without the assistance of a breathing tube. Against all odds, Jeremy and his family – including children Alex, Andre, Ashley, and Allison – fought hard and proved that prognosis wrong.
“This Thanksgiving season, I think the thing our whole family is most thankful for is that we can celebrate together,” said Becky, Jeremy’s wife of 21 years. “This year we learned just how quickly things can change and how important it is to appreciate everything you have.”
The day that their lives changed forever was March 8. It was a typical Sunday for Jeremy and Becky as they made breakfast together that morning and were both enjoying the day off.
“Everything seemed normal. The kids were all home (from where they currently live in Cedar Falls) the night before for a birthday party and nothing was out of the ordinary,” explained Becky. “It was around 3:15 and Jeremy had went to the bathroom. When he came back, I noticed that he was breathing kind of funny.”