My husband worded it best when he said, “A good man was sent home well before the time we would have sent him.” It’s been a huge blow to not only his family and mine but to the community at large.

Tom was a great man. He always had a smile on his face, and knew no strangers. I can’t think of a single person who met Tom and didn’t love him. He always went out of his way to help others and showed a great deal of respect for the elderly. He LOVED his family. He was the epitome of a family man. He loved his heritage and loved visiting Italy to explore it. He would come back home with oodles of pictures and would animatedly talk about each one. He was incredibly full of life and love.

He was my dad’s best friend here in Decatur and he was the father of my brother, Joel’s, grade school pal. Needless to say, he is already sorely missed by our family. It’s hard to accept his passing. He was still so young and healthy, & I think it’s harder to accept the death of someone when it’s unexpected and sudden.

While I’m very upset about Tom’s death (he was like that fun uncle who always makes you feel good about yourself and gets you excited about things) – I’m actually worried about my dad. I can tell it’s hitting him hard. I feel like my dad has experienced a lot of loss in his life. Both his parents have left this world, as has one of his brothers and his sister-in-law. I love my Dad and I worry all this will add up and really play a toll on him. So I’m going to do what I can to be there for him.

I’ll close with this poem that I think is very comforting to think about when losing a loved one: