It has been one year, seven months, one week and 4 days since Fabian left us.  The void created by his passing doesn't seem to be getting any smaller. 

Every day, every activity, every thought is interspersed with thoughts of Fabian.  Our discussions include you. Fabian did this, said that or would have done this or say that.

The emptiness his family feels is evident in how easily a tear is shed at just the mention of his name.  Our weekends will never be the same, holidays will never be the same, our family will never be the same, our lives will never, ever be the same.

Every special occasion in our lives, he is included.  I have a portrait of him which I sometimes hug, kiss, dance with, cry over.

On Thursday, May 10 Fabian would have celebrated his 33rd birthday.  The second birthday since his passing.  We will commemorate that very special day with those who loved him best - his family and friends.  The months of May and September will never be the same for his family and his friends.

We thank those who have stood by us since he left us.  Thanks for your love and support, that is what has kept us going. 

Fabian's remains may be lying at the Briggs Memorial Park, but his memories are alive in our hearts.

In never fading memories of a wonderful child, a loyal brother and friend, a good father - always loved, always remembered, always cherished.  Gone but never, ever forgotten.

Mommy

Fabian was the lovechild of parents Michael and Ionie McGowan (now Ionie Wright). 

On the 10th day of May, 1979, a beautiful Thursday afternoon, a son was born to Michael and Ionie McGowan at the NuttallMemorialHospital. He weighed 7 lbs3 ounces.   A beautiful love child.

He did not emerge kicking and screaming, like most babies, but came into this world very quietly. In fact the nurse had to elicit a cry from him by giving him a slap on the bottom - of his foot. His parents named him Fabian St. Michael. 

He was their pride and joy. His father nicknamed him “mi likkle green baby” because of the green cloth in which he was wrapped at birth...and to his father he remained his little green baby all his life. 

Fabian was a quiet baby… no fuss, no crying.  So quiet was he that a full two weeks after he was born a neighbor came knocking one day and insisted that his mother showed him the baby. He knew that she was pregnant; He heard that she had had the baby, but he hadn’t heard any ‘baby sounds’ coming from the house. So he needed to see this baby as proof.

And that’s how Fabian lived his life...a quiet no fuss kinda person; and as the Most Honourable Portia Simpson-Miller said earlier, “He had a gentle disposition.” As a child he attended the Marlin Avenue Basic School for a term, then went onto St. Jago Preparatory School, then the Bridgeport Primary School where he was successful in the Common Entrance Examinations. He was awarded a place at St. George’s College where he stayed up to 4th Form.  He completed 5th Form at the WaterfordHigh School. At Waterford he came under the tutelage of form teacher Mrs. Evette Stupart who taught him, and along with Miss Laura Hinds, loved and nurtured him. 

There at Waterford he sat and was successful in the CXC Examinations. Next, Fabian decided that he would enroll in the Portmore Community College to prepare for A-Levels. However, after completing the first year, he decided that he was going to seek employment, leaving his mother to concentrate on educating his two younger siblings.

That’s how thoughtful, considerate and caring a young man he was.  He then applied to the HEART Internship Program where he was placed at the City of Kingston Credit Union where he worked for two (2) years.  

He then applied to the College of Agriculture, Science and Education where he was accepted to complete an associate of science degree in Natural Sciences.  On returning to Kingston he again applied to the HEART Internship Program. This time he was placed at the British Caribbean Insurance Company. At BCIC he worked in several departments for the eight years that he was there. 

Although Fabian loved the sciences, after working in the insurance industry for a few years, he fell in love with the insurance field and pursued several short courses at the College of Insurance and Professional Studies to better understand and hone his skills in the industry. 

 To his friends Fabian was always known as Sojie, so it came as no surprise to those who knew him well, when he made the decision to enlist in the 3rd Jamaica Regiment of the Jamaica Defense Force. There, he successfully completed the required military training. 

In an effort to improve his professional qualifications, he enrolled in the University of Technology’s part-time program where he pursued the Bachelor of Business Administration. He completed this course and would have graduated in November with an Upper Second Class Degree with honours. 

Fabian was a member of the BCIC Football Team where he played in the Business House Competitions. He was also an avid fitness buff who ensured that he stayed fit at all times. 

Fabian’s life was guided by the godly principles as taught by the Seventh-DayAdventistChurch and, as you heard earlier, was baptized in this church on October 17, 1990. Here, he was a member of the Pathfinder Club, the Children’s choir and the Church’s youth group. 

On Monday September 20, 2010, he went to the Hospital to have a routine surgery. On Sunday the 26th he went to sleep.  May his soul rest in peace