The first time I saw Matt he was about 4 yrs old. I came by his grandmothers house to pick he and Lisa up for Vacation Bible School at Antioch Church of Christ. This was in 1985. Vickie, Lisa and Matt were living at Vickie's mother's house for awhile after the divorce.
The church office had called and ask if I could pick up two children that had no way to VBS because their mother worked. I will never forget little Matt running to my car to go to VBS. He didn't know me from Eve. But seeing my 3 kids in the car made for an easy transition. He and my son Bryan and Lisa and my oldest daughter Angie were about the same age(I also had 1 yr. old).So that week of VBS not only made new friends for the kids but also a long lasting friendship between Vickie and I. Throughout the years our families have shared the good times and the bad. My prayers were answered the day that Vickie and Tom were married. I knew then that I did not have to worry about her anymore. She and the kids would be fine. And they were. Everything was not perfect but I knew that Matt and Lisa were happy and safe. They also gained a new brother(David) and sister(Andrea). They had a full house and loved every minute of it. Matt being the youngest was of course a little spoiled by all this extra attention, but he didn't seem to mind. He was always full of energy around his new family.
Matt was a little shy around people he did not know well. But if you could talk computer talk he was right there with you. He was a kind and loving person. He loved children and animals, which as we all know, is one of the most honorable traits that a person can have.
I have actually not seen Matt in awhile, but Vickie keeps me up on how he is getting along. Matt, your mother and brother and sisters miss you tremendously
But I know they have comfort in knowing that you are with your eternal Father and there will be no more pain or heartaches.
Matt, rest in the tender arms of Jesus. Soon we will all be coming home!
You will be missed!
For so many years Matt was part of our family. Jeremy and Matt were inseparable. He was at all our parties and always there to lend a helping hand. All we had to do was ask. He would go out of his way for any of us. Computer help, moving or whatever. In his quiet manner he just seemed to enjoy having people around him. Like the day that he and Jeremy brought the fishing boat over to the house. Such a fun day. We will miss you in our daily life, but we are comforted in knowing that God wanted you in heaven to be one of His angels.
I met Matt when he had just turned six and I was thirteen. I had always been the youngest now I had a little brother. This brother grew to be one of my very best and dearest friends. I told him things that only my really closest friends knew. I always loved to see his smile. His quirky way of making me laugh. Or the way I could make him laugh. I always like that no matter what we had a connection and we weren't blood. Our family was that way we were truly blessed. He had one of the biggest hearts of anybody I know. He always could figure out what was wrong with your computer. He would search if he didn't know and find it. He was a very loving person and I will truly miss him. I will miss our being a couple when the family would get together because you and I were always left to be put together but we never minded and always made fun of it. Little brother I will miss you. Say hello to dad for me.
I have lots of good memories spread out over 17 years. Watching movies around Christmastime with Kee and my mother in 2007. We'd just found out we were pregnant a few days prior, and I kept passing out with my head in your lap. At one point I woke up to see you grinning at me. I asked what was so funny, and you said "You snore.". You handed out presents and Kee was the happiest I think I've ever seen him.
When I tracked down my biological father in June of 2007, you were the only person I felt like I needed to tell. We were on the outs at the time, not arguing or anything but just hadn't talked in months. And you answered the call and said "That's awesome! How'd it go?". We had a good laugh about his fanatical live foods diet. "If you nuke a potato for even 3 seconds, you've commited murder. Microwaving things removes the life forces..". My dad is a fruitcake and it was so good to turn the situation around and make a joke of it.
In December of 2007, we were listening to some Dane Cook performance. He was talking about his job at the BK Lounge and you were just rolling with laughter. I went and put on my shirt that reads "Burger King Employee of The Month"... hehe.
In January we had the first sonogram at Dr. Carter's office. Wish I'd known then that it would be the only time you'd see our daughter. She was just a tiny speck on a screen.You said "Congratulations. Maybe this time we'll have a girl.", and you kissed me on the tip of my nose. Right in the middle of the Centennial Women's Hospital parking garage. You were right. We got our little girl and she looks like you. I wish that I'd put aside my petty feelings and just called you on the 25th. I kept reaching for the phone and putting it right back down again.
I haven't forgotten your special cheer up dance. Or your imitation of Amanda R. eating a hotdog.. a classic. Playing Illbleed and House of The Dead 2 on Dreamcast. The way you put up with my opera singing and british boyband music. Take That and Party is a BAD album! That TT cd you gave me for Christmas last year, Beautiful World? I listen to it every day with the midgets. My way of feeling close to you without risking losing face by picking up the phone. At this point, I'd settle for an angry voice.
The numbness has worn off and I don't know what to do. It seemed as if we could always cool off for a few months, a year or more, and then business as usual. How can there be no next time? Raising our kids is.. I mean, it's not gonna be easy. It's not like having photographs to look at and being able to just hide them when you can't cry anymore. When you can't cope with feeling like your heart is going to implode.
These little people are hopes and dreams. Yours and mine. Living. Breathing. Moving. Asking questions. They are all that's left of you on this earth.
I met Matt a few years ago when he moved into an apartment with me, Kevin, and Jeremy. I always thought that he was really quiet but extremely sweet. Whenever we were both at the apartment he really made an effort to talk to me and get to know me. Times got rough at the apartment and we both moved out. We didn't talk for a while after that because I was living in Lebanon and he was still in Nashville. We would email each other every now and then and finally several months after we had moved we got together for lunch. Since that day we made a point of trying to keep in touch and getting together just to catch up and talk.
Matt was always there for me no matter what. He would drop everything just to come spend time with me or talk to me on the phone. When things were rough for one of us we would just sit and talk on the phone for hours. One of my favorite memories was this past Monday on Labor Day. We had been up just talking on the phone and online and it was close to 5 in the morning. I was getting ready to move from my apartment and out of nowhere asked me if I wanted to move right then. He knew that I was in a bad situation and just dropped everything to come to my apartment and help me. We moved for about 2 hours and then finally went to eat breakfast and went back to the house he was living at. We were exhausted but we stayed up for a while just talking about everything. I told him that I was tired and he said, "Well you're not going to get any sleep if you keep text messaging!". Then he said, "Do you hear me?" I cracked up and started laughing and he hit himself in the head and said, "Oh my gosh I just sounded like your Daddy". At that point we lost it. We were almost rolling on the floor just laughing. That was the very last day that I saw Matt.
Matt...I miss you so much. You meant a lot to me in the few years that I knew you. I'll never forget you and I just want to say thank you. Thank you for always being there for me and thank you for just being you. I can definitely say that you were one of the best friends that I have ever had and you will not be forgotten. Rest in peace.
The picture was taken in July when he came to a party at my apartment.
