The design and production of the memorial that designates and honors Matt’s memory brought what seemed at times insurmountable challenges. All I had for inspiration was my deep love for Matt and a determination to never let his memory fade. How to put that into a composite of granite was by itself overwhelming. I couldn’t even begin to think about memorializing Matt for several months because accepting his death was probably the most difficult and unwelcome obstacle of them all. Once I could collect my thoughts and try to put what seemed like a billion pieces together into something that made sense, something that made me feel less alone and even quieted the pain for just a few passing minutes, I decided to meet with a monument designer to share my most private and intimate emotions hoping he could somehow take a few of the billions of those pieces and bring honor to Matt in a way that everyone would remember the good things – like his smile, his ambition, his heart for wanting to always make things better and for me, our love. After sharing my and Matt’s story with the designer, he promised to deliver an amazing work of art that would tell the story of not only Matt’s life but also of our love for each other. So what does the memorial monument mean? What story does each part convey? First is a base of blue granite - Matt’s love for the sky and the water. Matt found great contentment in flying through the blue skies. Something about being in the sky made him feel a sense of peace; and his other passion was for the water. Flying over it, swimming in it or just walking on the beach letting the waves come to a rest at his feet – it all made him smile. Or maybe it was just because he knew blue was my favorite color that amazed him so much– whatever the case, I see his deep blue eyes and remember his love for life in the foundation of his memorial. Probably most important is the arch – two connected elements. Matt was an avid photographer and took countless pictures of the St. Louis Arch. He was fascinated by the engineering and sheer magnitude of its structure. Every time we visited St. Louis for a Cardinal baseball game we had to visit the landmark because as he often told me , “It reminds me of us –two people from a different time and place coming together to form a gateway to a life together.” So just as the St, Louis Arch is the gateway to the west, the one in Matt’s memorial monument was a connector of our lives and a passage to what now are timeless memories of our time together. When I see his memorial, I feel a peace and a sense of completion to Matt’s life, – a story of love, connection; and a work of art that brings comfort and inexplicably makes sense of those billion pieces I desperately needed to come together to mean something and to validate his life and his memory. The Inscription: “Love Isn’t A Matter of Counting the Years” My time with Matt could never be long enough. So many times I wish I could recapture one moment in time and make it turn into a thousand years but loving someone isn’t about how long you have them with you.– and loving someone isn’t measured in the time we have together - its measured by what is in our hearts and how we make each minute together an infinity with memories of joy and gratitude for the time we are given to love.

Each of you were given a sky blue stone when you arrived.

Today as you share in Matt’s memory, Barry asks that you place the stone you were given on the foundation of his memorial monument. As you can see on some of the monuments in this special place are stones left by people who visited the memorial. Ancient teachings tell us the reason we are to leave a stone to validate that we visited the memorial and that the person memorialized was in our thoughts that day. So why a stone? Flowers fade and go away but stones are strong and they endure over time. Today, as you place the stone in Matt’s memory, it is important to remember the good stuff…and that his time on earth though short – mattered and counted and makes all the pieces a little more sensible.