Dear Zach,

Thursday, October 10, 2013 will always be the day you were taken from us too soon and went to heaven. It’s been 3 years since my dad called me in the middle of the night and somehow the moment I answered the phone and heard his voice, I knew you were gone. It’s crazy how over 20 years with you seemed to fly by but the 3 years you’ve been gone have seemed like an eternity. The time just drags on and on reminding me everyday that you’re not here. So many things remind me of you, most just make me take pause and smile, but some things still knock the wind right out of me.

October is definitely the hardest month without you, but it’s also the month that reminds me of you the most and that will always bring a smile to my face. I can’t see a zombie or go through a haunted house without thinking of you and wishing you were there to see it to. There are days when something catches my eye that instantly reminds me of you and I believe it's you letting me know that you're here with me. The zombie you sketched still hangs on my wall, it no doubt stands out among my other artwork. Sometimes it even shocks guests that visit my house because it seems so out of place but that makes me smile even more.

The last place we ever went together was Pulse Nightclub in Cincinnati. I still can’t believe that you talked me into going out that night (anyone who knows me knows that I never go out to clubs) but I am forever thankful that you did, because it was the last time I saw you, the last time that I hugged you. I have videos and photos from that night that I will cherish for the rest of my life. It was probably the latest I’ve ever stayed up but we just kept having fun and finding things to talk about. Thank you for that night.

I still hear your encouraging words in my head every time something great is happening and I still hear your protective big brother voice every time I do something stupid or let someone treat me poorly. You were always the person I could tell anything and everything to and never once did you judge me. I don’t think I can ever thank you enough for all you’ve done for me. You made me feel like family when no one else in our family did.

I’ll never forget the time you told me “just remember, you will always be the girl who made me a brother”. Those words will stay with me forever.

There is nothing in the world that compares to a brother’s love.

I miss you & I love you Zach.

With all of my love,

Your sister

#aZombiesLoveNeverDies