Your smile could light up a room like the sun lights up the sky. You left this world so suddenly no one was ready to say goodbye. When I heard you had died my heart grew cold. It has been three months since you left this world behind, but it feels like you were with me just yesterday. Some days I still don't believe you really died. I don't want to accept the fact that you are really gone. I want to hear your voice one more time. I want to walk beside you on the vibrant green turf of the football field just talking about our futures. If I could just hug you one last time and feel the warmth radiating off your body. To hear your soothing voice telling me everything will be okay than maybe I could except the fact that you are gone. As for now I don't want to believe that it is true. A part of me died alongside you that night, that part of me I will never be able to get back. Not a day will go by that I don't think of you and wish I could hold you in my arms. I cant watch a football game without thinking AJ could have done that better. I just want to say a formal goodbye to you. You were taken from this world way to soon and I don't understand why. People may say I'm holding to much onto the past but how could I leave the only memories of my best friend behind. Even though you died young you still left behind a legacy. You will be remembered for many years to come not only in the hearts of family and friends but also in the actions of many young football players that will get a chance to pursue their dreams because of the scholarship you have given them a chance to get. Even though you may be gone in the flesh in my heart is your memory and there you will always be.
I wrote this about my good friend AJ who passed away on January 17th 2016. He was only 20 years old. He graduated Canby high school and was a football player at Portland State University.