Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Matt

There are moments in life that stop you in your tracks.  I had one today.

Brent and I woke to the news that our good friend from high school had lost his battle with depression.  

We didn't see Matt often after high school, but we lived high school together.  We had the wonderful opportunity to see Matt 18 months ago at another friend's wedding.  We reminisced, we laughed, we even went to Matt's parent's house where we spent so much time in high school...and, we talked about how we wanted to see each other more often...

Yet, here we are today, 18 months later.  The door is closed on making more memories.  Our hearts ache.

Brent and I each have our own memories and stories with Matt, but we shared a lot too.  Brent's memories started earlier than mine on the basketball court in elementary school.  Mine started in middle school.  As I went through old pictures tonight, I realized just how much we lived high school together....
  • 7 of the 10 high school dances I went to were in a group of friends that included Matt, many of which we gathered at his house for pictures in his parent's beautiful backyard
  • Senior year spring break to Florida
  • Countless basketball games watching him, Brent, Brett, and Isaac play together
  • Countless days and nights spent at his house with his family and our friends
  • He dated one of my best friends and I dated one of his
I'll forever think of Matt when I hear Pearl Jam, when I see an Airedale Terrier (his family pet, Dancer), when I see a Ford Explorer (like he drove in high school and I saw on my drive home today), and when I think of high school.  Matt was woven through my high school experience and I hate that he's gone.  

Pardon the pictures of pictures, but I wanted to share Matt...

Julius and Matt

Mike, Chris, Matt 
Eighth Grade



Last Day of Eighth Grade

Last Day of Eighth Grade

Freshman Homecoming

Freshman Homecoming

Freshman Homecoming

Freshman Homecoming

Freshman Homecoming

Isaac and Matt

Brent, Isaac, Matt
Sophomore Homecoming

Sophomore Homecoming

Sophomore Homecoming

Sophomore Sweetheart

Sophomore Sweetheart
Junior Homecoming
Junior Prom

Junior Prom
Senior Homecoming

Senior Homecoming

Senior Prom

Senior Prom

Senior Spring Break

Senior Spring Break 
Senior Spring Break

Senior Spring Break

Our Wedding
A blog post from last winter after we saw Matt for the last time.

Matt's obituary

5 comments:

  1. I'm sooooo sorry to hear about the loss of your friend. I can tell in your words and from all the photo's that even though you didn't get to see Matt as much as you would have liked, you and Brent cared deeply for him. Praying for peace....

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm so sorry to hear this Jen, it's so painful to lose a friend that was such a big part of your life. I'm sad for all his pain too. Thinking of you guys.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you Jen and Brent. We love you!!
    Janet

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you Jen and Brent. We love you!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you Jen and Brent. We love you!!

    ReplyDelete