Mat

Three years ago today our friend Mat died.  While running a marathon with his wife and her sister, he was stung by a bee, suffered anaphylactic shock and never recovered.  He was 28-years-old.  I hesitate to even write this post because I fear that everything will sound trite and cliche.  But I'll do it anyway because I want to keep his memory alive. 

We miss Mat. I thought that the missing feeling would shrink someday, but it really hasn't.  Without Mat in it, the world will always feel a little duller and smaller - as it well should.  Thinking I'd miss him any less at some point in the future was just wishful thinking.  We've learned to live with the missing, but we don't miss him any less.    

The third or fourth time we hung out with Mat I specifically remember thinking, "wow, Mat is as good a guy as Brian."  For me, that is the ultimate compliment... and he deserved it.  Mat was a genuinely good person.  He had a great sense of humor, he was completely comfortable in his own skin, he was quirky and unique, and he loved life.           

All of those qualities, plus the many more that are harder to define, are the reason we gave Rhys the middle name of Mathew.  We want Rhys to be his own person, and know he will be, but we're honored to have Rhys carry Mat's spirit on in some small way.

Mat would adore Rhys.  No question.  He would love his mad scientist hair, chubby knees and sweet personality.   

Mat and Greta knew without a doubt that they wanted children.  He would have been a terrific father and going through the journey of parenthood together would have been such fun.  That's another thing about missing Mat.  We don't just miss what was.  We miss all that should have been. 

We love you, Mat.  You'll never be forgotten.