“My son Matthew played baseball from a young age, even filling in once on a AA team sight unseen, by word of mouth. He played catcher and was amazing to watch and he had the perfect “Griffey” swing. My husband, Gregg, coached and I was dugout mom doing the books. Matthew was a carpenter but secretly wanted to be a firefighter, something I never knew. Matthew adored his niece Abigail and she him, he is her only uncle and he has now been gone over half her life. He loved living in the woods, fishing and swimming, four wheeling and catching bullfrogs with his little sister Raechel. Every 4th of July we have a fireworks display from the middle of the pond and Matthew’s voice and laughter was heard above it all. He was loving and loyal, politely sarcastic with a twinkle in his soulful eyes and he was the sweetest smartass I’ve ever known. He was the meat in my family sandwich and we will never be the same without him.”
Written by Mary Peckham