Last week was my birthday and my hardest day yet. How could I celebrate a new chapter of my life without you? Nobody could ever live up to the way you made me feel. So special and loved. I cherish your every word forever. 

 I love you sissy. I replay those words over in my head every day. I miss your voice and your smell and your hugs. I hope you hear me when I tell you back, i love you zachy. I do. I love you more than anything. 

I am hopeful one day soon my tears will turn into smiles so we connect and be together again. I go to therapy every week and my therapist says you’re here with me. I promise I’m working to get to your vibration, we will be together again soon. Be patient. I love you forever, my angel

It are days like this that are the hardest to just get through!!  Now mind you Zach was not one to plan for a graduation, Mother’s Day, or anyone’s birthday, but he sure as hell would brighten all of our days with his smile and most amazing energy!!

Joey graduated from UMass Friday and it was tough on all of us not to have him with us physically!  Joey had him on his cap in writing and we had him in our hearts!!  The physical loss or absence is so damn heavy it is really hard to move through it sometimes!!  But then as we werefinishing our meal at one of Joe’s favorite spots in Amherst here comes Zacho pushing through the clouds and brightening our meal with his love and light!!  Not that it means a damn thing when you consider how poorly the weatherman predict our weather but the weather was supposed to rain all day and did before during and after graduation, but our beautiful angel made sure we knew he was with us at Joey’s celebration!!  

He would normally have been front and center smiling the biggest and cheering the loudest for his big brother!!  I am so thankful for all of his love and support he holds a huge place in all of our hearts!!

Thank you for showing us your love and light my dear sweet boy!!  I miss you very much and will cherish you forever!!

Acome, 

My beautiful boy,  Zachy, Today I’ve thought of you every second of the day, maybe because it’s quiet and your brother and sister have gone back to Cali and U-Mass, and to work. Maybe because I just miss you more than ever. Your dogs, Remy and Emma have not left my side. They are curled up next to me on my bed comforting me best they can. How they miss you too. 

I made a promise to be strong for you. You taught me how to be strong, you taught me so much. I know you didn’t want to leave us. I know you were proud of everything you achieved. You’re our inspiration, your genuine heart and love are bringing us all together. I know you’re watching us in Heaven happy and proud. And those tattoos are such a bonus♥️

It’s pouring out right now, all day the rain hasn’t stopped. All I can feel is that this is you telling all of us, you’re at peaceand not to worry and of course just like always, “ dancing in the rain”

I love you Zachy, 

Love, 

Mama

PS I love the rain now♥️

Hi zachy. My friend sent me this passage and it’s one of the best things I’ve read. You may be out of sight but you will never ever be out of my mind. I will speak of you daily, laugh at your stories, and cry many tears missing you. You will be with me forever, I promise you that.

My zachy. I know my pain will never go away, but I can find comfort knowing your pain is gone. You were my little (big) sidekick from an early age. My buddy. My best friend. As your big sister I was suppose to protect you. I would give anything to go back and protect you from this. You made my whole world colorful and filled with love and laughter. I love you with every ounce of love I have to give. Letting me dress you up and paint your nails and being the best damn model for mom and dad and joey and cj when I wanted to put on fashion shows. Our million trips to get scratch tickets together whenever I was home and our pact to always split whatever we won. Baking healthy desserts together (aka you eating as I baked) and all our grocery trips. You were the only one who always wanted to eat healthy with me. I miss our morning coffee runs together and living together that one summer. 

We’ve only ever gotten in one fight. We would look back “remember that one fight we got in” and belly laugh together thinking about it. I miss the way you called me sissy. I miss your voice. I miss your hugs for no reason. I miss our phone calls about random shit that would turn into hour long calls just talking. We had so many plans for the future. Your birthday, coming to Cali, so many memories we should have made. 

Everything we did together was fun. Whenever we went shopping I always wanted to buy you things for no reason other than the fact that you were just so damn cute. You could have talked me into just about anything and I’d do it with a smile on my face. I would give you the world if I could. 

Something about you melted my heart, and anyone that knows you knows exactly what I’m talking about. The kindest, sweetest, loving soul. You truly have a heart of gold. You wanted to make everyone happy, you never had a bad word to say about anyone, and if you loved someone, you would defend them until your last breath. I don’t know what I did to deserve you as my baby brother, but I am eternally thankful for the bond we had. It’s rare to find a bond so close, but that’s what we had and I will cherish it forever. 

There’s so many things I wish I could tell you yet I’m at a loss for words. I feel broken and empty. I feel lost without you. When you left me, you took a piece of my heart and I will never feel whole again until we’re together one day. I am hurting, but I want to be strong for you. I’m your big sissy and I want to make you proud. I know that’s what you’d want. I will never understand why, instead I choose to honor you by living in your footsteps. A life of passion and color and laughter and love. So much love. I love you so damn much. I miss you. I will miss you every single day, but You will be in my heart forever. You never failed to tell me how much you loved me, and I am so thankful for that. I love you with all of my heart Zachy. If I could trade places with you I would.

 Rest easy my angel. Watch over me. I know you’re in peace now, which is all I could ever ask for. Until we meet again my angel. 

I love you forever. 

Your big sissy 

To put it simply Zach and the Parsons family are some of the best people I know. From little league to workouts and PT they have been a light in my life like so many others. Every time me and my siblings walked into Craig's office, I would be greeted by Zach's smile, and can't count the number of times he helped me get better in the gym. His passion and dedication to workouts and a healthy lifestyle was truly inspiring. I am blessed to call this family my friends, and heaven has gained an angel. To the parsons family, it is beyond unfair that this happened, you guys deserve happiness more than anybody. Zach, thank you for your positive spirit when I needed it most, and for teaching me how to live life better everyday.

I’ve been thinking about the time that Andrea decided to buy four baby goats so that each of the kids would have one. The goats constantly escaped from their pen. Zach tried to talk me into letting the goats come into the house whenever Andrea was away telling me that “Mommy lets the dogs in so our pets are allowed in the house.” When thinking about this story I feel like it exemplifies Zach's innocence and humor. 

I have always known that I have been truly blessed to have such wonderful kids!  No doubt it was chaos with everybody playing a bunch of sports and having  work, family and friends.  But in a moment like this when your world is slammed to a screeching halt and your heart is truly ripped out of your chest, the only way to even start to cope is to remember the good times!  Well screw that.. with Zach we had great times!!  

At a very young age Zach started to “get into mischief” his grand parents used to say!!  From making up words, who could forget “bum hum”, to flushing telephones down the toilet, to putting wasabai on CJ’s birthday cake, to getting the Greenfield’s to give him his 3rd 7 year old birthday party of the month wiith legitimate fireworks directly behind the Dover Police station, to climbing  to the top of Haleakala and telling me he could walk on the clouds, to eating a magnet instead of the candy and hearing the heavily anticipated ping when it hit the toilet bowl, and so many more things!

But the one particular story that sums up the fun and games from my beloved Zacho’s youth was after a long car ride in our Expedition with TV in back.  The kids must have watched 2 or maybe 3 movies.  The last one was the Little Rascals, Zach was truly belly laughing!  I remember him asking me “would I be able to blow bubbles if I drank dishwashing soap daddy?”  I immediately said no way pal you will just get a bellyache.  Clearly I was not speaking English, because the moment we pulled into 52 S Main St he sprinted into the house and started to chug the soap at the sink!!  To this day, I can still see him try to burp bubbles!!

Zacho, I want to thank you for making me the proudest and happiest father the last almost 22 years!  You were dealt a lot shitty cards at the end and you stood tall and met every challenge with your eyes open head on!  I could not be happier that you came into my life April 17th, 1997 or anymore sad that you were ripped out of my life way too young!!  I know that you will have our places all settled and ready for when we come see you on the other side!  Thank you for being my beautiful and loving son!!  I could not love anyone anymore!!  It will be one hell of a challenge to live this life without you but I will do my best to meet it head on and eyes open like you my young warrior!!

I will always love you with all of my heart and soul!!

Dad

Zach,

Growing up I always wanted a brother. Through Cj, I was lucky enough to gain you and Joey as my “big little” bros, and you both made sure to make up for the years I missed out on being picked on and rough housed with; like any good brother would do. At the time, I never thought I’d say this but, I am so thankful for those moments. From living with you in Dover, to sneaking you into the Shrevesport casino for some one on one Zman time, to watching you become an amazing father, and all of the trials and tribulations in between; I am thankful for it all. I know at first glance you looked like a big mean tough guy(just the way you wanted)but, on the inside, you had the biggest heart and were loyal to a fault. That’s not surprising though, because that’s the Parsons’ way. To say you will be missed is an understatement, because you changed the lives around you in a way that will make a world with out you seem unimaginable. I hope you are looking down and can see how much you are loved and appreciated. I hope you hear the stories told and laugh a long with them. I hope you are at peace. And most of all, I hope you know I couldn’t have asked for a better big little brother. I love you.

Zach was the best man I’ve ever known, and that’s not just because he was my boyfriend. He was loyal, kind, and generous to everyone he came in contact with. In a short time he changed the way I look at things, and made me a better person. He was so patient, even on my grumpiest days he would show up at my door 1.5 hours away with flowers, candy, and scratch tickets. Since I couldn’t keep the flowers alive he got me a big blue plastic one, because it would never die. He loved game of thrones, and I had never seen it or understood it. He spent a month getting thru 7 seasons with me, and not getting mad when I’d pause it every 5 minutes to ask questions. We were so excited to watch the new season together. 

The gym was our place, it was the first place we met. It took us half a day to get up and get there but we loved working out together and being silly at the office. Working out will never be the same without you. Thank you for making me stronger in every way. Thank you for showing up to my work every week with a Marylou’s coffee and a snack to get me through my shift. I wish so badly we could be in bed eating mashed potatoes and laughing at everything.I miss you so much bub. I’ll always love you. 

I wasn’t lucky enough to have a younger brother of my own, but I was lucky enough to have Zachy. His older sister Lexy is one of my oldest friends, and was kind enough to make me part of her family growing up- whether that included rainforest frogs, chickens in the backyard, a Maltese named Sassy, or two twerpy younger brothers we somehow were trusted to babysit, some of my fondest memories were at the Parsons household, and the ones I hold closest always included Zachy. Even though we were so much older than him there was always something to learn from him- his curiosity, constant laughter and ability to light up any situation, or the fact that any place was better having him in it (except maybe for the kitchen after that time he almost burnt down the house making eggs). Zachy- thank you for all the laughs and for being the twerpy little brother I always wanted. You will be missed by so many. I promis I’ll help you watch over your big sis, she loves you more than you could ever know❤️