One year later...

One year ago today my best friend (besides Katie) passed away. His name was Matt Cooper. Luckily, he was the only person I knew that I was real close too and similar in age that has died. We were 17 days apart. He had been my best friend since I was 15 years old. We were roommates all through college and then lived together from when I finished law school until I got married. He was the best man in our wedding. During our rehearsal dinner, we had some time for people to share stories about Katie and I. His stories were very funny, mostly at my expense, and showed how much he truly cared for me and Katie. It was classic Coop, a little humor to ease the tension, but not afraid lay it on the line when it mattered. Almost of all of my favorite stories started with "Coop and I..." I remember when Katie and I found out that she was pregnant. I will never forget when I told Coop about it. He was happier for us than anyone else, including family. I can't explain it, but I remember his reaction so vividly. He was just that kind of a friend. As Macy get older, she will hear many stories of the times that her Dad and Uncle Coop had. It makes me sad that he never got to see Macy.

God (as he always does) knew exactly what He was doing when he brought Coop into my life. He was the kind of friend that would drop whatever he was doing and listen to me talk about something serious, even if we had the same conversation the last 6 nights. He was the kind of friend who would show up at stuff that nobody wants to go to, like graduations. He was the kind of friend who would always play songs I knew on the guitar so I could sing along while he played, even if they were not his favorites. He was the kind of friend who never judged me or treated me any differently no matter how many stupid mistakes I made, even if they caused him pain.

I have to share of couple of fun stories about Coop and I. They will be shortened, but I hope you can still get them. Right before one of our first day of classes at OC, Coop and I visited a thrift store. We found matching powder blue leisure suits and wore them all day long. Don't forget that we had exactly the same schedule, including no classes before chapel. Think about how likely to find a powder blue leisure suit for a 6'4" 200 lbs guy at a thrift store! How about the songs we wrote at LCCC? There is a church song, 'To the Work, To the Work.' Coop and I wrote a very chauvinistic song that started with "to the work to the work women serve all the men, let them serve all day long and then do it again!" We wrote 3 stanzas and a chorus. We also re-wrote the Lord is in His Holy Temple that started with "all women should be in the kitchen" We performed it at the talent show while wearing batting helmets and brandishing baseball bats at all of the girls in camp. We were lynched after the song. The uncountable hours playing mario kart and james bond on N64. Even after all the classes I skipped and sleep I missed, I could still never get anywhere close to as good as him. We helped get the broadway ford bull on OC campus during pledge week as a tribute to our Delta brothers for all of our fellow students to see and hear after chapel. The crazy times during the game 'what's the first thing that comes to your mind!' Several years after pledge week, Coop could still recite the first and last names and hometowns of everyone in our 30 member pledge class. There were numerous other activities during our Delta years that will not be mentioned here...because of time and the law. wow. I had better stop. I could also tell about the numerous spiritual conversations we had. No one challenged me to become a better Christian and to find out what I believe more than Coop. And, no one could start a spiritual conversation with anyone, regardless of time or activity, like Coop. His faith was never out of his mind. I know he was responsible for many people dedicating their lives to Christ and several of our friends trying to walk the narrow road again.

I know many people who read have experienced great loss. My heart goes out to you. Losing my best friend has been one of the hardest things I have gone through to this point in my life. There is a deep void that will not be filled. Don't get me wrong, I have a best friend in my wife, who has helped me through this process. I don't know where I would be without her. Probably drunk in a ditch. She has been my rock and I can't thank her enough for putting up with me and loving me the way she does every day. Plus, you can't possibly be depressed after spending 5 seconds with Macy. That void will not be filled, but it will not keep me down. Coop would be upset if I stopped living. He would tell me that I was being stupid and to take advantage of the time I have and that he didn't get. Even with all of that, I still miss him dearly. I loved him as my brother and I know he is watching over me and my family every day. He may not be here with us, we will always carry a part of him with us. We always said that we would end up living next door to each other, play golf, hang out on the porch combing our zz top beards playing guitar and singing. Maybe that is what heaven is like, I don't know, but I know he is saving the place next to him for me.