I wish you were still here.

A lot has changed since you've left this Earth. I miss you more than ever. It still feels unreal, unlikely, that it could happen to someone like you. It seems as if you've been gone forever, but yet at the same time it feels like it was just yesterday when we heard the news. How can time go so fast yet so slow since you've been gone? I wish you were there to see me graduate high school, attend prom, help discuss my future plans, and leave for college. It makes me upset you're not going to see me finish college, get married, and have kids. And of course, your little girl on her wedding day, your grandchildren, and her entire life. I can't wait to tell you all about my life, someday. I wish I understood why God called you home so young and so unexpectedly. No one else was ready for you to go, so why did He have to take you?

The memory of you is still here. The events that have been done in your honor are beyond remarkable; seeing the impact you left on this community is amazing. However, coping with losing you wasn't easy, and it still isn't. Some days are harder than others. One of the most difficult things I went through was losing you when I wasn't ready to do so. And it wasn't just me who struggled with this; it was everyone, and it still is everyone. It's hard to understand why everything happened the way it did and why you were so young and so healthy and had so much more to accomplish in your life.

Words cannot explain how thankful I am that you were in my life, even if it was for a shorter time than I had wished for. But I know God put you in my life for a reason and that he brought other people into my life to fill the hole that you left. But it just isn't the same without you here. You taught me many things about myself that I didn't know and about life in general. I wish I realized it sooner, so I could thank you. I wish things could have been different. I want to show my gratitude to you for many things, like always making me laugh and knowing exactly what to say whether I wanted to hear it or not. I aspire to be just like you one day.

I wish you didn't have to go but I'm thankful you're at peace up there. I wish I could talk to you or see you again one last time. I want you to know I love you and I miss you and I can't wait to see you again someday. Thanks for watching over me, your family, your friends, your little girl, and all of us down here. I know for sure you're a guardian angel for so many people. I know I'll see you sooner or later and that I will have time to spend with you again. I just wish that time wasn't so far away.

Dedicated to Terry Douglas Hyde:

Thank you for everything you did for me, your family, your friends, your school, and your community while you were here on this Earth. I know you were called to heaven for a reason that God had. There is not a single day that goes by that I don't think about you. Thinking about what could have been, thinking about what it would be like, thinking about how different everything could be. But I can't change that now, so in the meantime until I see you again, do some hunting, laugh a lot, eat your green apples, and watch over all of us down here. Until we meet again, you will always be in my heart and in the hearts of many others. After-all, "Friends don't forget friends."

Father, Son, Teacher.

Rest in Peace.

March 4, 1976 - November 15, 2012