Mat and I did so much and had so many experiences together. Even the smallest thing would turn into such an event with Mat. I have several stories to share once I can complete writing them down without stopping from all the tears.

  I want to share stories like Mats first time seeing the Ocean, how he serenaded me at the Flamingos Piano Bar in front of total strangers, How he shared the love of fireworks with his son & always kept a stash & set them off almost every weekend. Most importantly how he was my rock when my father passed.

  I want to share with everyone how fun, loud, tough yet sensitive and loving Mathew was so one day, when Mathew has grandchildren that never had the chance to meet him, can get a glimpse of what their Grandpa was like. I hope soon to update this section with the stories that have ingrained inside of me to give you a better insight of the beautiful man Mathew was.

So there we are playing poker in our living room. Enjoying a few cocktails and some laughs. We did this regularly with Mat and Kim...the difference this night, Rexx had invited someone new to join in. It was a guy we knew from the bowling alley and his wife. But this guy ended up being, as Mat would say, a total douch-bag. This was guy was so annoying and his wife wasn't much better. Mat and I were sitting next to each other and doing our best to play 'nice' but we were becoming more and more irritated by the minute. Mat got up and got a pickle - I think he got up to get away from table. But anyway, so he eats about half of the pickle and slams the remaining piece onto the plate in front of me. The way he slapped the pickle onto the plate hit my funny bone and I started to giggle. I said something like hey be nice it's not the pickle's fault (he knew exaclty what I was referring too) and Mat responded it is so the pickles fault. No no - you can't blame it on the pickle - not pickleman!  - we were like two little kids giggling and having so much fun making the pickle into a man. This irritated the douch-bag because we weren't paying attention to the game anymore. In fact at one point we completely abandoned it all together to go to the shop to find items needed to make him legs and arms. We messed with this pickle until we got him just right...It was in that moment that the idea of pickleman was born. Pickleman stands for the relief in laughter when life is irritating the crap out of us. Pickleman also reminds me to never lose touch with the child within.

Thank you Mat, for all the laughs and for being such a wonderful friend and man. I miss you buddy more than you could ever know. Your smile and laughter will forever warm my heart. {smooches} 

It was 2006 I'm in the backseat of a rental car that my unlce Matt had in his grips. For any of you that were either an unfortunate passenger or knew him best this meant we were flying down the highway and unlce Matt was having his way with this car!! I was soo worried my stomach hurt. Unlce Matt looked like he was in his element, he was focused. Auntie kim looked like driving this way was of the norm. I thought the two of them were nuts. Flash forward a couple of years and we were at unlce Matt's funeral and I had agreed to drive the lead car to follow to the burial site. Myself, Kim, my sister Brooke and Keaten got into the car and started to drive. Nobody in that car knew what to expect with following the hurst. All we knew was to follow it and not get far behined. As we started to go the funeral escourts started to pull ahead and we saw they were stopping all traffic and we were going through all the lights whether they were red or not. By this time it was pretty quiet in the car but I had made a comment to auntie Kim that I thought unlce Matt would have thought this was cool that tarffic was stopping for him, and for that matter we were getting to run all the red lights and not getting any tickets for it. At that moment we all started laughing and agreed unlce Matt would have gotten a kick out of this. That everybody had to stop for him and he wasn't getting any tickets for running any red lights. That in my opinion was the coolest gift I could have ever gotten my unlce!!

When my daughter, Kimberly, first married Mat he and I were not very close. I was a little reluctant since my daughter fell head over heels for him so quickly, like any mother would be I was cautious. I was afriad she would end up broken hearted. Through spending time with the both of them I could see the both of them really loved each other and I was not about to stand in the way of my daughters happiness.

My relationship with Mathew changed after the death of my husband. Not only did I see how supportive he was of my daughter, Mathew made an effort to grow our relationship as well. He made sure that they would come to visit me to make sure I was being taken care of and when I would come to visit them, he would spend some one on one time with me and even get on to my daughter if she got upset or frustrated with me. He even began calling me mom, which always made me feel good.

My fondest memory with Mathew was last Christmas 2010. Just Mat and I went shopping. I thought I was going along to help him pick out presents for Kimmy, but it turned out he already knew what he wanted to get her and had everything he wanted to get her in less than an hour. Because we were done so quickly, he didnt want to hurry home so we stopped for starbucks sat down and talked for a while. He made me laugh, opened his heart and we just shared with each other. It was from that moment I no longer considered him as my son in law, but considered him my son. Losing Mathew as a part of our family has been devistating but I take comfort knowing hes in heaven sharing the same moment we shared with my husband, Kimmys Father. I love you Mat & miss you dearly.