Originally written as a facebook note 12/16/10 - Finally got up my courage and wrote the letter I am sending to the organ donation center. Very hard letter to write. How do you condense a life into a few short paragraphs? How do you keep personal details out? ... I hope (very much) that someday, I will get a letter from someone who received something from Max. Here is the letter I wrote:
My son, Max, was 18 when he died in a car crash. Our family of four is now missing a very dear loved one.
He was always such a deep thinker and was smart beyond his years. Easily bored in school, constantly taking on more work just to stay challenged. He was headed to college, but never got the chance, his car crash happened two weeks before he was set to go.
He had a tender heart and has been described by all his friends as extraordinarily kind. He had a quick wit and was very funny. His smile and laugh are two things I desperately miss. One year he found out that a disabled kid in his youth group wouldn’t be able to go to camp if he didn’t have someone along to help him, and Max dropped everything and volunteered to go so that kid wouldn’t miss out on camp. He didn’t let me tell anyone about that while he was alive – that was typical Max.
His musical talent defined much of who he was. He was a percussionist, playing every kind of percussion instrument, and the drums. He was so talented! He had just taken on his first music student – a 5 year old that adored him. He wanted to be a music education major and had a huge music scholarship for college. He was captain of the drumline last year. He took such joy in music. Since his death, the entire music department where he went to high school has mourned him and honored him in many ways. We have many pieces of music that Max wrote or arranged. A drum cadence he wrote was played at his funeral by the drumline.
He played in two praise bands and was active in church. I know he is in heaven now. The loss of Max was so sudden and tragic, our lives are forever changed, our hearts broken. I pray that the person who received the gift of his eyes will be blessed by knowing that Max saw life through those eyes and more importantly, we saw that deep, sweet soul that belonged to Max through them.
I pray blessings for you. I pray you see friendship and fun. I pray you see beauty and colors. I pray that you see friends and family that love you. Max saw all those things and now his life is over. I pray you seize every opportunity to tell those you love how much they mean to you. I am grateful that part of Max lives on and continues to bless others.
Max’s Mama,
Pam
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