On Friday, I found out that one of our best friends died in a car accident. Today is his birthday.
I'm still in shock, and just really, really sad. Erik called me at work and told me, then called Rear D to confirm. I was in shock waiting for him to call me back...I called Matt's phone, but it was off...and I can't bring myself to delete his number from my phone.
Matt was one of the first people I met when I moved to Fayetteville, and we were almost instantly friends. We had a lot in common, shared a lot of the same views...we just clicked. I used to always joke that even if he wasn't friends with Erik, he and I definitely would have been friends...we just got along so well. During my time in Fayetteville, he became the one person that I loved to see most, the one I trusted, the one I could talk to. The day before the guys deployed to Afghanistan, we went out to breakfast and I just hugged him before we left...I almost broke down in tears...I was as scared for his safety as I was Erik's. When the guys got back, he was the first one I tried to call...and luckily, he answered his cell phone)...Erik was still a few weeks away from being back, but I just felt reassured talking to Matt. He always had that effect on me.
He was one of Erik's best friends, his Best Man in our wedding. I couldn't have been happier about that choice - we had two other great guys in our wedding party, also our friends, but Matt stepped up and took care of everything we needed him to. He coordinated with Erik to make hotel reservations, he helped plan out how everyone was getting to Cleveland, he was in charge of picking up and dropping off the tuxes. He went over and above to get my family to completely love him, including finding a super small, super tight Poland t-shirt in Babcia's (my grandmother) basement and wore it, which seemed to just thrill her to death...who knows why. Everyone had an amazing time that weekend, and a few key things about it stick out to me still...and he was a part of almost all of them. He was the only one, other than my husband, that I danced with...I'm glad I got that time to tell him thank you for all that he had helped with, and to tell him how much I loved him. Everyone played a huge role in our wedding, and I truly don't think anyone else could have filled his shoes.
I haven't gotten a chance to talk to him since he was in Cleveland for Thanksgiving, but Erik talked to him earlier in the week...completely out of the blue, which is weird, we've all been so busy. They had a good conversation, and I know that Erik is happy about that, and that really makes me happy. As much as Matt meant to me, he meant even more to Erik. I know he was one of his best friends...if not his best friend. He was his first roommate at Bragg, they deployed together, and they were always there for each other.
Matt felt more like family to me than a friend...and I will always remember the good times we had. The wedding...his pestering Alysse (and then Teresa) to date him so he could become part of our family...the nickname he and the other guys gave my brother at the wedding (Butch)...his stupid fat suit...the fact that I hated when he talked about strip clubs and steak...his ass tattoo that he loved showing off, and the many more bodily mutilations he acquired...the fact that I wasn't surprised when he got in trouble for mooning a superior when he showed off that ass tattoo one day...his amazing ability to be late and skip PT almost every day and never truly get in that much trouble...helping him move out of his house, which was an absolute mess, finding marbles all over the place...him helping us move into our apartment and staying after everyone left simply because he just didn't want to go home...when he and the guys called us on their way up to Cleveland for the wedding telling us they would be really late because they got horribly lost, but then I got home from the doctor's the next morning to find them eating breakfast at our kitchen table because it was all a big joke...Matt getting the creepy guy next to us at bowling to buy us all drinks because he caught him looking at my boobs, and guilted him into it because it was the day before my wedding and my soon-to-be-husband was there with me...the fact that he HAD to wear his stupid jump boots and get a picture in them at the wedding...his obsession with helping my dad get horribly drunk at our wedding...his overly sweet smile and the way he'd pester anyone to get him anything he wanted (his victims were usually waitresses or other strangers working at stores)...his story about "the bleeder"...dinner at his house (yum, his BBQ chicken) where he was showing us how his daughter loved to dance to rap music...his pursuit to get rid of his Monte Carlo by having it stolen, and the fact that he got a Trail Blazer before me...and the list goes on...
Matt will truly be missed. Unfortunately he's left his daughter who will never get to grow up and find out how amazing her dad is. My heart goes out to her. He was such a great guy who was so friendly you just HAD to like him...and I'm going to miss his stupid, goofy smile.
Although we didn't get to see him on a daily basis, life won't be the same knowing he's gone.
Erik and Matt at our wedding after Matt caught the garter.

I made the guys
"Fun in the Sun" packs while they were Afghanistan...the theme was "You guys have the sand..now bring on the fun!" They had little kid sunglasses, Hawaiian leis, and other summer-themed items (see the link)...well Matt took a picture of himself enjoying the contents.
