TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas lawmaker whose 10-year-old son was killed on a water slide is urging his colleagues to remember there’s more to life than what happens in the Capitol.

The Kansas City Star reports that Scott Schwab was emotional after being sworn in Monday as a leader in the Kansas House.

The Republican from the Kansas City suburb of Olathe told lawmakers to “let it go” when their bills die or amendments fail. He says, “Life isn’t worth wasting too much emotional energy on such things.” He added that “it could get worse.”

His son, Caleb Thomas Schwab, died in August on a water slide billed as the world’s largest. It still isn’t clear what happened to Caleb on the 168-foot-tall “Verruckt” at the Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas.