The Last Time I Saw You

              

The last time I saw you, you were looking fresh to life, man! Sharp white tux and that peach shirt that gave you an angelic glow—or maybe it was just the joy of celebrating ten years with your beautiful wife. I gave you a hug and I swear some of your happiness rubbed off. I’m a romance novelist, but my belief in happily ever after wavers sometimes. Not when I saw you and Sonya together. You two made me realize that real love is actually real. You two were always smiling, laughing and joking.

                Being around you two, there was always so much love in the air. You couldn’t help but smile. And you were always making people smile because when God made you, He broke the mold. Forget Raymond, everybody loves Pete.

                When my paranoid tail wanted to go see The Dark Knight Rises, who rolled with me to ease my mind? I thought you were pretty unbreakable. Motorcycle crash, you’re good. Car totaled on ice, you still celebrated your friend’s birthday – the same night! Superman status. I still can’t process the senseless of it. The fact that my beautiful cousin is gone. We were supposed to be picking out a movie to go see. Talking football junk. Eating wings while you threaten me with pork chops.

                But you’re in God’s hands now, taken too soon but you will never be forgotten. You will live on in our hearts. We’ll remember your smile and the goodness you shared everywhere you went. We’ll watch over your baby and hold her when she cries. You’ll guide us and keep us on the right path. When we feel as if that emptiness in our hearts is about to take over, you’re going to fill us all with the good memories, the good times we shared. And when the time comes, we’ll see you again.

                My dear cousin, we love you and we will never forget a moment we shared.