Quotes

“Our community has suffered many losses since the dawn of our generation. The tragedy of nine-eleven, the death of my own father, and the deaths in each and every one of your families, are just a few. But today we come here to mourn the loss of a very special person, one who had changed everyone’s lives even though they might not have known. Allen Fletcher was my neighbor my whole life and he taught me how to survive life how it was dealt to me.” I took a breath, as tears formed in my eyes and continued. “Allen was just 15 when he tried to take his own life, he used just a single bullet and that bullet was the cause of his short-lived life to come to an end. But he pulled through the first time and came back to all of us, showing everyone how valuable life is and how we should never take it for granted.”
“Not long after he was released from the hospital did Allen ask me to marry him. I accepted, knowing how dearly I loved him. For the next two years we spent as much time possible with each other and I learned to love life again. I forgot how beautiful it could be. But just by looking in his eyes you could see the joy for life, the happiness most of us forgot when we reached the age of twelve and began middle school.”
“All of this was brought back to all as Allen came back to us. But now, just two years after he came back that bullet managed to do it’s duty and take his life. Allen had a brain aneurysm which went unnoticed until it ruptured, giving him a stroke and letting him slip between all of our tightly woven fingers into the land of death and darkness and away from everyone who loved him dearly.”
“We’ll miss you Allen, everyday, every second that each of us live we’ll miss you and you will never leave our hearts. This is for you.” I turned and lit a match, going over to a vigil, which I had set up earlier and lit the five candles, which surrounded his picture. Music began playing as one by one the rows of people came to say their final goodbyes. That night, I would say mine to him and to Tina and Roy.