This is a poem I wrote about my friend Tom's death that I read at his funeral. It was hard to write and even harder to read but with the strength that he and my grandmother gave me that day, I was able to read it without a tear. RIP Tom...I miss you every day.
The Day the Music Stopped
Silence is all we heard this Halloween.
No laughter from children, no festive songs were sung...it was just silence on the day the music stopped.
Until the tears started to pour and we heard the collective sobbing of all who were touched by Tom's unique ability to make you feel special and belong. He connected all of us and when we drifted apart, he brought us back together. He reminded us, and still reminds us, that we all have a link to each other. It is him.
His unwavering loyalty and quirky sense of humor made him one of the best friends we would ever know.
When Tom took his own life, rest assured that he did not die alone. A little piece of each of us died too, but we were there with him. He had us and now we have him in our hearts forever.
This tragedy should teach us all to appreciate eachother because the next time you turn around someone you love may not be standing next to you. You may have forgotten to tell them how much you love them or how happy you are that they are in your life. It happened to us...suddenly. We couldn't say goodbye, we couldn't say anything…on the day the music stopped.
By:
Melissa Gonzalez
