|
Saying Goodbye to Matt
T
he joy of knowing a great man can be overshadowed by a death too soon. Far too soon.
You are expected to bury your parents. As you grow older, you bury siblings.
How do you bury a child?
I met Matt when he was three years old, in pre-school, and he and my daughter hit it off from the first. They played at each other’s house, were great friends.
Nice kid he was. Happy kid. Then we moved away.
I met Matt again when I visited his mother in the hospital after her surgery last winter. He was holding her hand and talking to her, loving her. He came up early those mornings, long before work, to walk her dogs. When she came home from the hospital and suffered intense pain, he held her in his magnificent hug until she fell asleep, tears covering her cheeks.
I met Matt again when I visited his mother in the hospital after her surgery last winter. He was holding her hand and talking to her, loving her. He came up early those mornings, long before work, to walk her dogs. When she came home from the hospital and suffered intense pain, he held her in his magnificent hug until she fell asleep, tears covering her cheeks.
He was a true friend to his father. A good older brother to his little sister. An Eagle Scout. An Internet Game Master. In the middle of studying for his Cisco Certification. An uncle.
Matt was building his mother’s garden, a little at a time, a tier at a time, maybe three rose bushes this week. Like his love for everyone, and everyone’s for him, it grew week after week.
Always shared. Always growing.
How do you bury a child?
He was thirty-four, a mountain of a man, with a heart as big. The hole he leaves in everyone’s heart will one day be overflowing with his memories. The memories of the joy of knowing a great man who lived too short a life, yet long enough for us to feel his love and be grateful we were touched by it.
How long will it take before we feel only...only...the sweet parts?
He learned to speak and called himself "Mahmoo." He learned the color song. He learned to read and play and be a friend.
And a son.
How do you bury a child?
How long before the gulf of aching pain is filled with the sweetnesses? How long will it take for the gaping hole to heal? How long?
How does life go on without Matt?
Without Matt to be the good, sweet man to everyone he knew?
The mountain of a man with the mountain of a good heart.
Matt.
You will not be forgotten and we are so much better for having known you
Margaret Evans:
writes:
A friend of mine lost her son a few days ago. I spent a little time
with her this past week, enough to see how hard it will be for her to go
on without her son...to find that path. Anyway, my own sadness at his
loss is reflected in the short piece I’ve attached below (Saying Good-bye to Matt).
We are each the sum of all the people we meet and come to know, the good and the bad. We need them all to make us who we are. It’s just so hard to say good-bye to the good ones.
Maybe you can find a place for it in a future edition of Fullosia Press. If not, that’s okay, too. I just needed to write and share it.
Margaret Evans:
|
|
From:
Margaret Evans
