Rest In Peace, Matthew.

Yesterday I learned of the death of my cousin, Matthew. Any death is a sad event and a profound loss. But, this seems different. His death was not the result of an accident or illness. He committed suicide.

How do you make sense of the loss a smart, loving and wonderful 16-year-old boy? Especially like this? There are so many questions that will probably never been answered, like why? He had everything going for him. He had straight A's, loved baseball, hunting and recently got his driver's license.

How does a parent go on when their only child dies? This has hit me especially hard because I have a young son. I can not imagine what I would do if this happened to my child. Last night all I could do was watch D sleeping and kiss him and hope his dreams were sweet. That is all we want for our children ... everything.

So what now? I guess we move on, grieve and try to comfort each other. Most of all we have to remember the good times and how he touched our lives and that we are better for having known him at all. He only had 16 years on this earth, but he left his mark on all our hearts.

Matthew, you will be missed. I love you.