Our family!  When I say these words, in my heart what I am feeling and saying is God’s most complete and perfect gift.   It is so very true that in our lives, it really is all about family, and as each one of us prepared ourselves, in our own separate ways, to say goodbye to our most beloved, Ray, we learned to lean on each other more than we ever had before, and we saw each other’s very unique gifts and strengths.  Ray left us with so many beautiful moments, that I know we will always hold so dearly in our hearts.  These moments left us all with beautiful memories of laughter, of praying, of sharing what was in our hearts, and yes, of tender moments of tears.  It was our goal to simply spend every day that we could pouring out all of our love onto Ray so that he could feel our love each day, and take that love with him when God called him up.  What we didn’t count on was how much joy and sweet, sweet moments he would give in return to each one of us, simply because Ray was Ray; that kind of amazing person who asks and cares how everyone else is doing while he is the one suffering.  We are most blessed in life when we can give of ourselves to those that we love, and Ray knew how to do this even when it wasn’t at a time when anyone would expect him to be the giver.  As our family continues to grow, each of us will share our love for Ray and all the funny and loving stories we have stored in our hearts, so that they will also begin to know Ray, as we were fortunate enough to know.  For me, I am lucky enough to call Ray my brother and my very best friend!    I am also lucky enough to call our family mine!

We all love you Ray and miss you beyond any words! 

Rose