Dear Coach,

It has been a little over a month since you passed and there is not a day that goes by that you don't cross my mind at least once. It took me a few weeks to take it all in that the man I looked up to was gone. I have thought about you a lot lately and wanted to tell you a few things about how you impacted me.

I didn't really tell you some things, but you need to know them. You taught me how to be a fighter. To me, I look at this in two ways. You taught me how to fight for what I want in life and never stop until I get it. You were also my MMA coach and taught me how to defend and protect myself. You taught me how to feel self-confident and find motivation in any situation and that’s why losing you was something I struggled with.

You also taught me to inspire other people. You always told me how I was going to make a difference in a lot of people's lives, but I honestly didn't believe you until I actually stopped being stubborn and believed in you. You always pushed me to limits I never knew I had, even when I wanted to give up. I remember there were days I would try to jog and catch my breath, you looked over to me and yelled in your raspy voice “Get your ass moving Ced.” You never failed to make me laugh, smile, cry from being sore and push me to new limits and tell me I would be fine. You were one of a kind that's for sure.

I will never forget how powerful of a person you were in so many lives including mine. Not only did you push me to be the person and tell me to keep fighting my own battles, you were also fighting yours and fighting your battles every day as well. I was so proud of you when you started going to church and accepted Jesus Christ as your savior. This makes me feel better about all of this because I know I'll get to see you again. You honestly inspired me more than anyone has in my life so far. You had to fight your addiction and you fought through it for years, and still kept going.

People have told me it’s sad that you passed away, but why did an addict influence me so much in a positive way? My response is simple. You were influential in a positive way in my life before I even knew what you were struggling with. Did I look at you differently? Nope. Q you may have been addicted to heroin, but that didn't change who you were and still are to me. I see a side to you that outsiders that don't know you won't see. You are a prime example of why I will never judge someone by how people make them out to be. I love you for who you truly are Quincy, and no one will ever take away that from you. Thank you for being you. Thank you for inspiring me in ways I will never be able to thank you enough. I promise to fight every day and make an impact on people. I promise I will make you proud Q every day. I love you coach, fly high.