Saying goodbye.

I made it Matt Magrath. I met your family like I said I would. And they were all just amazing as you. But let's be honest---Could anyone ever be cooler than you though?We ate dinner at your favorite spot, heard stories and routines from your family, we picked out a memorial tree to be planted in your honor, we tried the strawberries at your favorite berry stand, we saw the baseball fields where you coached so many kids, we saw the fence you used to hop to get into the Fair for free, we saw your new home, we visited your resting place, we saw the Pittsburgh/Ohio gifts sitting in your office that I sent earlier this year, we were given gifts of yours to remember you by, we visited your work and met all your coworkers.We heard stories of your silliness. Oh how hard you fought. Of your curiosity. Of your passion for helping. Your co-workers knew me as the lesbian from Pa. So just like you to be blunt and silly. It warmed my heart to know we carried so much of each other with us.We drove around the Lummi Indian Reservation learning about all the good work you did. The programs you built, the youth you counseled, the co-workers you touched.No matter where we went, the same thing was echoed over and over. You were a friend to all. A bridge from one community to another. You changed so many lives and you didn't even recognize it. You saved people from their addictions. You motivated others to change. You friended the outcasts to learn their why's. You were always a fan of the underdog and a good comeback story.I promised I would visit your home if you were cancer free by Christmas. And weeks before we lost you I promised I'd come meet your family and home. Things don't always work out like we planned. Some days I get really angry that you were stolen so soon. But I try really hard to carry with me pieces of you that you taught me: to be curious, to be passionate, to love the hard to love. Those same lessons can now be a part of the scholarship we built for you. Your spirit is a part of me now and I wear it wherever I go. You wore it better, but when I button up my coat and tie my shoes, I'm tying in the pieces of you I loved so much. Thank you for sharing that with me, friend. You will always be my PhD husband. If there is one thing I've ever believed in, its soul friends. The people that lift you up just by being. And that's you. I carry your heart, I carry it with me where I go.❤️ Go big red.