| Author | Message | ||
     Jerry_haughton |
(from Mitch Ware, 5/8/2008 - FB) Everyone, It is hard to believe that it was one year ago today that Matt went to heaven. It has been an interesting year to say the least. Even though Matt was out of our household for several years living on his own, he still had a very profound effect on us all, and has left a huge whole in our lives. We are in the process of redefining 'normal' and as many of you know from your own experiences, that is a difficult and often painful process. We have weathered our season of 'firsts'… first birthday, first Thanksgiving, first Christmas, first Easter, even first funeral of a family friend, all without Matt being here. In some respects, it was more difficult then I ever thought it would be in ways I couldn't have imagined. God provides us with peace, but many times we opt to 'go it alone' for some reason, and choose to suffer through. I guess it is human nature. Anyway, the five of us are living testimonies that everyone grieves in their own unique way, and within our own time frame. There is no 'express line' available when grieving; you just have to live through it. I am told that it gets better with time, however the first year seems to get worse before it gets better. There are times when something comes out of the blue, a song, a photo, even a thought… and the lonesomeness washes over you… totally consumes you and for a moment you just can't breathe. That too is part of the process. Fortunately, there are increasingly more 'better' days then 'bad' ones. We are certainly thankful for that! Thanks to many of you, Matt's legacy lives on. As you know, Matt's friends raised a huge amount of money to pay his medical expenses with any balance left over to go to brain cancer research. On Matt's 29th birthday, December 30 2007 we were able to donate the balance of the trust fund (thanks to your generosity) to the Mussella Foundation for Brain Cancer research as we sent Mussella a check for $10,000. I am positive that Matt would be very impressed with his friends and extended family in how they rose-up to this challenge. Even though it takes millions and millions of dollars to fund the clinical trials and research programs, every penny counts! Dr. Mussella himself wrote us a thank you note in which he says: "thank you to everyone involved with the wonderful and heartfelt donation in the name of your son Matthew Ware. I assure you we will use this money to speed up the search for a cure so other families will not have to go through this nightmare in the future." We are excited to share with you that we will be awarding the first annual Matthew Ware Student Athlete Courage Award at the East Kentwood High School athletic award banquet at the end of this month. One college or Skills Center bound athlete from EK, who has been in difficult circumstances beyond his or her control, who has persevered and competed in athletics at EK will receive $1000 towards their higher education. We are excited to meet this first recipient! As mentioned in previous updates, we have placed a flowering crab-apple tree at the East Kentwood High School baseball diamond in Matt's honor. It was a long and very snowy winter here, but it is doing very well. In fact it is in bloom!! Lori has added additional landscaping around the tree and it looks terrific!! I promise to get updated photos on Matt's photo website soon: www.flickr.com/photos/team_matt_ware We will be focusing on working out the details for a permanent park bench in memory of Matt to be placed on the campus of Kettering University. We will be working with Professor Bell's office as well as Matt's fraternity chapter, to see if we can make this a reality yet this summer. Please mark June 13 and 14 on your calendar. That is the day of the Kentwood Relay For Life. Matt wanted us to be a part of that endeavor. If you recall, we had a Hawaiian theme last time, and he showed up in his coconut bra and grass skirt for part of it! It is a 24-hour love fest for cancer survivors, caregivers, friends and community. It is a time of remembrance for those who have passed-on with a very moving luminary at dark on Friday night, as well as one big party for kids of all ages before and after. We are currently putting together this years Team Matt Ware, and would love to have you sign up and join us. The theme is 'teaming up for a cure', and we are the Team Matt Ware All-Stars! Everyone can wear their favorite sports gear and walk a couple laps, or just hang out at our tent and visit with other Team Matt Ware All-Star buddies and snack on some delicious goodies! Bring your neighbors, church group, kids, everyone that wants to have some fun. We will be sending out a separate email with more details about some of the activities and fun we have scheduled. In the meantime, you can sign up to be part of Team Matt Ware All-Stars (even if you can't attend) for free online at: Click here to view the team page for Team Matt Ware If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/Rel ayForLifeGreatLakesDivision?team_id=198926&pg=team &fr_id=8114&s_tafId=117556 When these kinds of things happen, you quickly find out how many friends you have. Matt and we, are blessed with many. And for that we are so very grateful. And we are very thankful for our wonderful and understanding family and extended family. Family and friends are so important. Again we want to thank you for all of your prayers, cards, emails, phone calls and kind words of support. It is really an honor to have you in our lives. Blessings, Mitch and family | ||
| U4euh |
Thanks Jerry. | ||
| Dbird29 |
Matt rides with me. | ||
| Nevrenuf |
thanks and that was a good read. looking forward to franklin jerry. finally had the patches sewn on myself. | ||
| Rocketsprink |
just remember people, every time you have a little bump in the road in this thing we call life, and you feel sorry for yourself, remember stories like Matt's. If that doesn't inspire you or make you realize that you don't have it all that bad, you're a fool Thanks for sharing this with all of us. Matt is truly a hero. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
thx, guys. for anyone reading this who doesn't regularly peruse the Tale Section here on BadWeb, there's a thread there call "Matt's Place," which contains, among many other things, ongoing updates from Mitch Ware. here's a link: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/cgibin/discus/show .cgi?tpc=6817&post=895761#POST895761 Mitch's words, as you've noted above, are profound. it's easy to forget, in our active, busy lives, that Matt is gone. easy for all of us, anyway. Mitch's poignant and extremely personal dialogue reminds us that Matt's passing has left an unimaginable void in the Ware Family that is ever-present and painful, and his words to us are sad, yet courageous and inspiring. Denise and i had the good fortune to spend some quality time with Matt's good friend Alex Prior last night, on the first anniversary of Matt's death. we talked about Matt as much as our emotions allowed, and we all gave thanks for having had Matt in our lives, even if - as in mine and D's cases - it was all too briefly. ride in peace, Matt Ware. thank you Mitch Ware & Family. FB&D |
