He fit the stereotypes at least. His blue eyes, blonde hair and love for the outdoors would help him blend right in, but his chill attitude made him the perfect fit.
Nick and his brother Jack Savage played hockey together and were always running late to practice, their friend Austin Reid said. Whenever a teammate was late getting on the ice, the coach would make the entire team skate sprints as punishment.
The Savages would arrive and have three minutes to get on their gear and make it to the ice.
Everyone would be freaking out, but they stayed calm and somehow always made it in time.
“He was so carefree,” Nick’s friend Alex Mabry said. “We could be in an awful situation, and he’d say word for word ‘It’s cool bro, it’s chill.’”
Saying ‘It’s chill bro’ was one of Nick’s go-to phrases along with quoting “Trailer Park Boys” and rapping to Riff Raff any chance he had.
“Introducing the Icon” by Riff Raff was his jam, Mabry said, and one of his favorite lines from “Trailer Park Boys” was “Sometimes she goes, sometimes she doesn’t, that’s just the way she goes,” his friend Anna Hurstel said.
These quotes and his relaxed attitude just scratch the surface of all the things Nick’s friends will miss about him. Nick, an IU student entering his sophomore year, and his brother Jack were found dead in their home June 14.
The two brothers purportedly overdosed on an unknown pill given to them at a party in Granger, Indiana.
But this is not how his friends said they believe he should be remembered.
“It was the most uncharacteristic thing Nick has ever done,” Mabry said. “I think the most painful part for me is like people who didn’t know him are going to think of him as like a druggie. It doesn’t apply to him at all.”
Nick’s friend Drew Heffelfinger thinks it’s more accurate for people to remember him as a loving person.
“That kid, he just taught me how to always love people no matter how pissed you get, no matter what’s going on. Don’t burn bridges between you and someone else because you’re angry,” Heffelfinger said. “Be willing to forgive them and don’t hold a grudge. Always go back to them.”
In addition to Nick’s ability to forgive, his love for Taco Bell is another aspect of who he was which cannot can’t go unsaid.
He would drive 45 minutes to be with Hurstel when she was bored, but he couldn’t save one taco from his 12-pack order for anything, Hurstel said.
His Taco Bell stories are endless.
One night, his friends forgot him at Taco Bell after a night of hanging out.
His love for Taco Bell was so well-known the manager of the Taco Bell in his hometown sent his family a letter and a gift card upon hearing of his ?passing.
These are the memories Nick’s friends will keep of him, not how he died or his last choices.
They will remember him always including others, helping others have fun and being worry free.
“You could never hold a grudge against Nick, and he couldn’t hold one against anyone either,” Heffelfiner said. “He’d always be the one to open his arms and bring you back in.”
