Even miles away, in Florida, you are often in my thoughts. Something will happen at a CE dinner, or if I’m circling a parking lot looking for a parking spot, I’ll laugh to myself and think about you teasing me. Miss you, Garrick! 

Garrick and I met in optometry school in Chicago in the fall of 1997 and really hit it off from the get go.  Little did we know at the time how good we had it.  Life was so simple back then.  We (Garrick, Paul, Dan, Chad, and I) practically ate every meal together in the dorms our first year at ICO.

We had so many similar interests from sports to Seinfeld.

We played countless hours of NCAA football on PlayStation in between studying and clinic.  Of course, Garrick always chose University of Florida for his team.  I got scored on so many times that I memorized the UF fight song.  I would whistle the UF fight song and he got a big kick out of the fact that I learned it by heart.

We (Garrick, Ethan, Todd, Chad, Ben, Chris, Jeff, and I) played on the same basketball team (the big green machine) for 3 years and were intramural champs our 3rd year.  We would often shoot around and had 3 point shooting contests.

Garrick and I went to a Bulls game and saw Jordan play.  We went to a Cubs game in April but left early because it started to snow.  We went to a Blackhawks game with Kenny.  When we got back to his car he wouldn't unlock the doors so that we could "experience" what a real winter felt like, and it was freezing.

We (Garrick, Sam, Dan, and I) would go golfing and Garrick always asked to borrow my glove.

We (Garrick, Sam, Leighton, Jason, and I) would play cards (hold 'em) all night long.

We listened to rap music such as Notorious BIG.  I specifically remember Garrick would rap “Girls pee pee when they see me, Navajos creep me in they teepee!”

Garrick and I shared so many meals together.  I specifically remember going to the Great Wall in Chinatown, O'Malley's, and Scumaci's.

We (Garrick, Paul, Dan, Chad, and I) explored Chicago on foot.  We took the bus, taxis, and the “L”.  I specifically remember the Hangge Uppe and Banana Joe’s. Garrick would always offer to buy me a beer.

While we were all on externship, Garrick and Ann were in Florida and I was in South Carolina. We met up and I noticed that they were hanging out a lot.

We (Garrick, Ann, Kim, and I) went to a water park and Busch gardens in Tampa, and took boards in Miami.

When we all got back to Chicago for graduation I found out that only Garrick and Ann were taking a trip to Europe.  A few years later, I wasn’t surprised when Garrick told me he was going to propose to Ann.  I was honored when Garrick asked me to be his best man.

I was looking forward to one day reminiscing with Garrick.

Garrick was one of my best friends at ICO.

I will cherish the great memories.

Rest In Peace.

You will be missed.

My husband, Gary, and I went to ICO with Ann and Garrick.  We didn't get a chance to know them as a couple since we lost touch after graduation. But both Gary and I have fun memories of each of them individually and weren't too shocked to hear they had gotten together. Thank goodness for the magic of Facebook to keep us in the loop! 

I first met Garrick in the fall of 1997 at the beginning of optometry school. We were standing in line in the gym, maybe to have ID photos taken, and he introduced himself making sure to point out that his name was not Garrett or Derrick but Garrick. I have yet to meet another Garrick! He was one of a kind.

As spring break of our first year rolled around, someone suggested taking a road trip out west to go skiing. I don't remember whose idea it was but reading posts about Garrick and his love of sport and travel, it very well may have been his. I didn't even know how to ski well but it sounded like fun, so five of us crammed into my Subaru Legacy and headed out to Colorado. We stopped to rest a bit in Lincoln, NE, Chad's home town. We couldn't leave the city without checking out the Cornhusker stadium. It was locked up but if I remember correctly, Garrick and Chad figured out a way to make it on to the field.

On our road trip back home to Chicago, we stopped to check out the Badlands and Deadwood, SD. Garrick couldn't pass up the opportunity to do a little gambling in Deadwood and ended up winning enough to pay for the tiny hotel room he, Katrina and I shared for a night.

I was shocked and saddened to hear of Garrick's passing. I hope all these stories and photos help keep his spirit alive. And help you to know that he touched the lives of so many and is remembered fondly by all.

I was a classmate of both Ann and Garrick at ICO.  But it wasn't until our second year of school that I became close friends with Garrick.  I lived upstairs from him in a two flat apartment on S. Emerald Street in Bridgeport with Jen and Stephanie. He was the best.  I remember him for his sense of humor, sincerity and great big hugs. I even asked him to plunge my bathroom toilet once- now that is a friend!  Our last year of school, I had an externship in Beaufort, South Carolina and he was in Gainesville.  Of course, I had to make the drive and see what the Gators were all about. I'm pretty sure he was rooming with Jeff Pietrzyk at the time.  He was a great tour guide.  Whenever I meet a fellow Gator, I mention that I've seen the Bat House. 

Sadly, the last time I saw Ann and Garrick was at their wedding.  I wish that I would have stayed in better touch with them over the years.  ICO is filled with many memories, and he was a big part of that.

My brother Garrick passed away on Saturday. He lost his battle with cancer. He fought for four years, undergoing chemo, radiation, and multiple surgeries, but it wasn't enough. Cancer is the most evil opponent, but he never gave up, he fought until the very end. Both of our parents, his wife Ann, and his two young sons, Joey and Nathan, were with him to say our goodbyes. He was sedated and made comfortable, and Ann and I held his hands until he took his last breath on this earth. He was 43.</span>

Cancer doesn't choose who survives based on how hard a person fights, otherwise he definitely would've beaten it. Cancer doesn't care if you are good or bad, young or old, it just takes lives. It ruins dreams and futures, and leaves family missing the people they love. 

He was a good man, husband, son, brother, father, doctor, athlete, and friend. He asked me to promise him that I would always look out for his boys, which of course I always will. I will miss him and I will always remember him with love. Rest easy, Garrick.

Garrick is our first cousin from my moms side, he was older than me by a year. We spent a good portion of our youth at family gatherings in Grantsville MD, at the beach or at each other homes for week long visits b/c we lived in different states. We were the youngest first cousins and boys, so naturally we played together from the minute we saw each other at reunions or other events. Water balloon fights, football, basketball ( i was better - but he always seemed to beat me:), wiffle ball, soccer (he was awesome) and playing board games (lots of laughs). We didn't see much of each other in our adult years, except for weddings and some texts about how good Florida was for a couple of years there winning NCAA basketball and football championships.  

Garrick, Ann, Joey and Nathan came to DC 2 years ago last month and we had dinner at our house, introduced our kids to each other, drank some beers, laughed and talked about life/being parents. Our kids played together like they had known each other from birth and still talk about their cousins from Georgia!  I will treasure that visit for the rest of my life as it was the last time I saw him.

The pictures I posted are from Aunt Nancy and Uncle Jim's photo treasure trove, all that we could get together in a short time this weekend.  I will post more, once we get a chance to look through them all. It was a real treat to look through them with my Mom and Dad.

Gone to soon - much love,

Andrew (Kelly, Maggie, Colin and Georgia)

This picture posted by my sister Kris was taken at Fred Thomas Resort in 2015. Garrick and his nephew Jeffery Shay won the corn hole tournament against my brother-in-law Jeff and my niece Mary Clare. Garrick loved competition and of course he loved winning. He had a way to make the losers smile about their loss.

Garrick was my (and my brother Ian’s) first cousin along with Leigh Ann. Our moms are sisters (Aunt Jannie and Aunt Jocey we kids call them) ... many fun memories in our younger years growing up of holidays and trips. Our Labs growing up (Skippy and Scuppers) were brothers. I’ll always remembers Garrick’s sense of humor and warmth. And looking up to him through the years. He accomplished a lot in his short life! Aunt Jannie and Aunt Jocey like to recount a funny story from when I was born. I don’t think Garrick was too thrilled with all the attention I was getting. Garrick was 2.5 and used to being the baby of the family. All the relatives were making a big deal about me as a new baby. Garrick said, “What’s so gweat about Cawoline?!?!” I’m so glad we got to see Garrick, Ann, Nathan and Joey in April 2016 in Washington DC. Our daughter, Estella (then almost 4), got to meet her big cousins and we got to see Garrick one last time (little did we know...). We enjoyed a great time at the National Building Museum and lunch afterwards despite some iffy weather. Really glad the Layman’s made that trip. Sending so much love to the family. Wishing you strength and comfort in the weeks and years to come. This site is a great memorial of him. Hugs- Carrie, Michael and Estella Cassinelli (cousins

I was lucky enough to be in the same class at ICO with Ann & Garrick, and knew them both as roommates and friends for several years before they were a couple. Their quick wit and dry sense of humor was definitely what drew us all together. Even though I do not remember much from Optometry school this many years later...I will never forget the fun things we did. For some reason it was always Ann, Garrick and I...even though Ann had a boyfriend. I had a fiance' in another state, but Garrick was always willing to step in as my pretend boyfriend when we were out so I didn't feel alone. I lost my shoes at a Jimmy Buffet concert and Garrick gave me a piggyback ride the entire night.

There were few nights that I remember just sitting around, because Garrick always wanted to "do something". We spent many nights dancing in crappy little Chicago bars (Garrick was an awesome dancer), eating out in Bridgeport and walking all over the city. Garrick was persuaded to join the Iowa State fan club, went to several concerts and even went with me to the IKEA opening day...you can only imagine how much he hated that...but he graciously helped me carry out all my packages and put the stuff together in our apartment. He always gave me a hard time about how much time I spent making my bed and tidying up, time that could be better spent watching sports as he would tell me.

Our very last day in Chicago he wanted to spend the entire day going all around the city (mostly walking) and taking pictures of every landmark that we could find. It was an amazing and exhausting day, but now I have pictures in front of everything from the Shed Aquarium to the Playboy offices that I will never forget. I also got to go to a Gator football game when we both lived in Gainesville and see first hand his love for the school and hear all the wonderful memories of college...and the bat house, and about Tom Petty working there.

After Optometry school (when the magic of Europe brought Ann and Garrick together) he was the same Garrick, but even happier than he ever was. Ann moved to Denver with me after graduation and Garrick came out to visit from Florida for a weekend. She was working so we went to a Gator bar for an alumni gathering (leave it to Garrick to find Gator fans in every state). It was great to see him with "his people" who shared the same love for FL, and I got to hear all about how him and Ann fell in love. From then on out I knew they would always be together, and in some ways already were before they even started dating.

Years later I had to miss their wedding because I was on bed rest with my oldest daughter, but went to visit them in Florida right after she was born. He was completely uncomfortable around a baby and made fun of everything I did. Oh how that changed when he had kids of his own.

My last visit with Garrick was in the fall of 2017 when I visited them in Georgia. Ann had given me a small taste of what Garrick was like at his son's games, so I didn't want to miss the opportunity to see him on the sidelines of Joey's soccer game. It was so fun to see how involved he was...and by involved I mean he was standing up yelling on the sidelines and Joey was mouthing "I can't hear you!!!" It was great to see.

I was never bored when Garrick was around. He was a loyal friend and he cared hard about the people that he loved. Thanks for making my world a better place!

Garrick loved coaching the kids in basketball. He wanted to teach these kids to play as a team and to win of course. I would hear parents from other teams comment on how much direction Garrick gave his players and how he was actually setting up plays for his team that consisted of 6 and 7 year olds. He won the championship with Joey in 2016 a day before he was scheduled to have lymph nodes removed that had melanoma. He won the championship with Nathan in 2018 and a week later had an emergency brain surgery for more melanoma that had metastasized there. The players and the players' parents didn't know that he was struggling with cancer and that is how he wanted it to be. During this past season, he struggled a lot with feeling sick and tired. But when he was coaching, he was back to being himself. It was during these times that I could see the Garrick I fell in love with over 15 years ago. Basketball will never be the same without him.

Garrick loved sports and loved making memories with his family. He combined both on several occasions and my son and I were lucky to be invited along when minutes after the Atlanta Falcons secured home field for the NFC championship game, I received a phone call from Garrick telling me he could secure tickets for the game, but I needed to act fast! What a memory, the last football game in the Georgia Dome, and what an atmosphere, when the Falcons won big. But that memory pales in comparison to the year prior, when Garrick coached and I assisted the 1st/2nd grade boys in basketball. The boys were 5-5 for the season, but as the playoffs started, Garrick installed a new defensive strategy. The boys applied it well, and advanced through to the championship game against an undefeated team. They were down by 7 at half, which is often insurmountable at that age. Garrick calmly kept coaching, and the boys chipped away at the lead. Our team led by 2 with seconds remaining, then the other team tied the game at the end of regulation. Garrick gave the boys instructions for the overtime period, and they came through for the win. It was on super bowl Sunday, but to us, it was a much more exciting sporting event than America's big game. I was only able to know Garrick for a few years after the Laymans moved to Peachtree City, but in that time I appreciated Garrick for always telling you things straight, appreciated his love of sports and competition from ping pong to corn hole, and especially appreciated how he loved on my children. Peace be with you Garrick.

I worked as a tech for Ann and occasionally Garrick about a million years ago. They were both so influential in my life that I am now a practicing OD as well(and have been for 8 years). My strongest memory of Garrick is that during his 20s and 30s he was trying to force one of his eyes to become more near sighted by over-correcting himself so that when he was in his 40s he would have "natural" mono vision and wouldn't have to wear reading glasses. I would think about him and his no reading glasses idea a lot during optometry school and have even shared his "idea" with some of my patients to get a laugh. He will be missed greatly!

Garrick enjoyed being the baby brother to Leigh Ann, and was used to everyone making a fuss over the "baby" at family gatherings. Then along came the competition. When Garrick was about 2 1/2, his cousin Caroline (Carrie) was born to his Aunt Missy and Uncle Brad. Suddenly there was a new kid in town, and he didn't like it. After meeting Carrie for the first time, he remarked "What's so gweat about Cawaline?" (It was awhile later that he learned to pronounce his "R's")

Of course, Garrick would always be special to his family. His easy going, affectionate nature, and sense of humor made him a joy to be around. We're just sorry that we didn't get to see him more often. We're sending healing thoughts to Ann and the boys, as well as to my sister, Janice, and brother-in-law Reed.

Garrick, you're forever in our hearts.

I was only fortunate to meet Garrick a few years ago when he and his family moved to PTC from FL. As I came to know him, I appreciated his competitive spirit and love of sports. He had a quick wit about him and never seemed to get caught up in the small stuff. I could always count on him to give me a hard time but as Ann so adequately wrote, "that's how you knew Garrick liked you"!

Some of my favorite memories of Garrick involve interactions that he had with my children. He spent the last few years coaching my son Luke on the basketball court and baseball field. He taught him alot about sports in general and always pushed him to be his best. Many times Luke would come home after playing at the Laymans house with stories about an intense nerf gun battle he had just had with "Mr. Garrick" and the boys or a tough game of Knockout that I'm pretty sure Garrick always won!

He had a softer side when it came to my girls, especially my youngest, Emma, who adored him! The image of him and her holding hands while walking down the streets of Helen, GA after tubing will forever remain etched in my mind! Emma is a highly energetic child and Garrick used to liken her to a "shot of espresso" in the mornings. Yet he still let her ride with him on the golf cart to school.

I wanted to share a special story about Garrick that for me highlighted our shared love of sports. During my last visit with him, the night before he passed, he alluded to the tough baseball season that our boys were having. The team was winless with 1 game left in the season. We told Garrick, during that visit, that the team was going to go out the next day and win one for him. Not only did they win, but Joey hit a homerun! And while he was not able to be there to see it, I truly believe that he was aware of it and on some level he knew that that W was for him!

I am saddened that we don't have more time to share and that our friendship was cut so short. My thoughts and prayers remain with Ann, Joey, Nathan, his parents and sister as they navigate this difficulty journey. His absence will be forever felt by those that knew him best. May you Rest in Peace my dear friend!

We met Garrick (and Ann) in 2003, when Garrick and I worked at the same ophthalmology office, Cape Coral Eye Center. I was told years later that with initial first impressions, Garrick didn’t think he’d like me!

Despite my poor first impression, we all came to be very close friends.

We worked together for about five years before I decided to leave to start my own practice. Garrick and Ann supported me from the beginning, even as others doubted and questioned why I wanted to do it. We stayed in touch often, and often rode to CE dinners together. If I drove us to meetings, he would make fun of how many times I circled the lot looking for a parking spot.

As optometry groups, we had “dinner club” and alternated houses for dinner for years. And had fun together at Kaplan Halloween parties, where Ann & Garrick always had uniquely themed costumes. Duke Lacrosse and Lorena Bobbit....

As a couple, Garrick and Ann were our ‘go-to’ for sushi nights out, after I discovered that I liked it (I’m an obnoxiously picky eater!). After sushi one night, they took us to Nevermind Bar & Eatery, which is our now all-time favorite restaurant, for the first time. I tried Pickleback shots that night. I held that nickname for awhile afterwards.

Dan and Garrick bonded over Gator football. Dan learned he couldn’t talk too much during the games! Garrick was serious about the Gators!

And we can’t forget the milk challenge! And how we laughed about it for years afterwards. Or how Dan jumped into the pool from the heated spa because Garrick dared him in the middle of winter.

As our families grew, we trick-or-treated together, colored eggs, celebrated birthdays, had parties, and had pizza and sangria nights in. It broke my heart in 2014 to learn that the Laymans were moving to Georgia.

We visited them in October 2016 and it was as if the previous two years hadn’t separated us. We picked back up where we’d left things. Garrick made fun of me hoping Norman Reedus would show up at the restaurant for dinner, but he seemed to enjoy showing us around Senoia.

Dan got to visit in February 2018 when we saw the drastic turn Garrick’s disease took. They had a great visit and it will hold good memories. (they had sushi—go figure!)

We love you Garrick! ❤️ Forever in our hearts