Memorial

This past Sunday was Matt McGraw's memorial. I went with a heavy heart and a pit in my stomach. Matt's mom just fell in my lap and cried once I got up to her. She said how she wishes he would have gone to the wedding. He was going to meet us at Adrian's wedding in Nashville and catch a ride with us back to Chicago. He never showed! After comforting Pat the best I could it was on to his brothers. This really sucked! No words could comfort, just some hearty hugs had to suffice. After being there with them it was on to speak with some mutual friends and his cousins Steve and Jason. They were in the band 'Product' with Matt back in the day. Over the years I spent some good times with them. After spending time talking to everyone and recounting our Matt stories the memorial started. After a video montage that brought tears and smiles a brief word was brought by Pastor Jerry and then some time was spent with friends and family sharing stories. A couple of tearjerkers were in the mix, but mostly it was stories that brought laughter. To end the night, 'Product' reunited plus one cousin to play one of their songs, it was great hearing the song and thinking back to when Matt was there. Thanks to Matt's producer a track recorded days before his death was played with Steve and Jason singing with Matt. Even thinking back now I get a little choked up. All in all the night was a great tribute to Matt. I think about him all the time and miss him like crazy. Just being around everyone and remembering the good times has helped ease the pain. Matt will always be remembered by the way we live our lives, to the fullest.