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Hunter Gierhart

@heartgears

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💿 @warnermusic @ada_music 🌎
📍probably at a concert

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This past week and a half has been the most overwhelming and surreal period of my life. Last Sunday, my father passed away in a house fire.

There is nothing I can say under the weight of life’s infinite potential for cruelty, through my shock and grief, that could ever properly honor my father’s legacy. But still, I will try.

My father was a 25-year Navy veteran. He spent many hours with his life on the line to do what he felt was right, for the benefit of people he would never meet. He died the exact same way he lived: as a hero.

I still have a sunburn from the last time I saw him, just three weeks ago. It was his 50th birthday, Father’s Day weekend, and we spent it watching the Blue Angels carve that intangible space between heaven and earth. A space that no human was meant to linger in, but was one where he somehow spent years of his life. All the while we watched those planes, the sun was etching that memory into my skin, so that I’d be able to hold on to him just a little longer.

I’m mourning not only my father, but the parts of myself that my brother Grant and I will never get to know. My dad held pieces of us that we were only going to discover with time, with his help, through the experiences of his life.

While I may never get to have all of his answers, I am choosing to be grateful, or at least, I’m trying to. I am grateful for the incredible memories that he gave me. He showed me so much of this country that he loved, from the beaches of California and Rhode Island, to the forests of Washington and Maryland, the skylines of New York and Chicago, and of course, those endless blue skies that you can only find back home in Texas.

Through all of this, I will take solace in knowing that he died as the same person I always knew him to be. A protector. A father. A hero. by @heartgears

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3 months ago

2,055 photos later 🇮🇹 taken in Italy by @heartgears

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4 months ago

I made a trip out west earlier this year… better to share late than never I guess! 🏜️ shoutout @rdhorak for keeping me alive in the desert 🙏 taken in California by @heartgears

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5 months ago

2024 recap and it’s the whole year except it’s only the second half so it’s not taken in New York, New York by @heartgears

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2 years ago

Shoutout to the haters who said we wouldn’t make it out of the groupchat, y’all were almost right! taken in Minnewaska State Park by @heartgears

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2 years ago

You think brat summer just fell out of a coconut tree? 🤨🥥 It existed in the context of all in which we live and what came before it 😌 taken in New York City by @heartgears

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2 years ago

Bye 2023 ✌🏻🥳🪩 taken in New York, New York by @heartgears

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3 years ago

Only took all summer, but I finally made it upstate 🏔️ taken in Adirondacks by @heartgears

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3 years ago

“Now why are you, as a man, posting a photo dump?”

Because I accidentally forgot to post for four months again ☹️ taken in New York, N.Y. by @heartgears

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3 years ago

Reminder that I’m great to go on trips with because not only will I take pictures of everything, I’ll also carry your things in my backpack!! ⛰️🎒

Solo shots 📸: @frankiepedersen taken in Cold Spring, New York by @heartgears

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4 years ago

I’m like, dropping hints that I got a new job

📸: @frankiepedersen taken in Sony Music Entertainment by @heartgears

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4 years ago

Only took me three ACLs to finally get a picture at the flags 🚩

#acl #austincitylimits taken in Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL) by @heartgears

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4 years ago