Dear Shane:

A year has come and gone and you stay on my mind. I wish that love could have prevented you from going but it was God’s decision to give you a better life. You are so loved and missed but it is selfish of us to want you physically here with us. I love Shane Lee, always and forever❤

Time doesn’t make your loss easier, it’s now 2023, but, it’s just another day without you. I didn’t know the Shane lee as an adult, or the father that you had become, but your kids fill me in, even those that tell me they have a hard time holding onto the sound of your voice, yet, your imprint is still very much present, and you live on through your tribe of 9. Today Destiny informed me that lasagna was your last meal together, and that she hasn’t had it since. Lexi told me how you kept them safe, and never let harm bestow upon your kids. She has fond memories of you at the playground and making them walk Phillipsburg’s notorious black steps. Xaiver once shared with me that he aspired to be just like you during our rare conversation. Though all children are different in appearance, you left your mark in their half moon smile smirk visible still resonating in all your photos. If they don’t have your mom’s slight turned up nose, the long bridge you were blessed with from your own father centers proudly upon their faces. Sometimes it seems as if the children you have left behind have been forced to face such peril, and the only thing that could make it right is the gift of your being… something impossible, but still and yet yearned. I speak to your mom rarely via text. I can’t say that time has made it easier on her… how does one move on when death comes for their child. Christmases now come and go, but what is her Christmas without the christmases with you? Christmas was a holiday she told me you so fervently loved. I haven’t heard from Sis, but I know that she struggles. I still remember little Shane idolizing his big sis as if she were a rock star. Well, this paragraph must meets its end, and one day too we shall meet again at our beloved Ruby’s place in Heaven, again, I shall find you.