In Memory of Matt Aydelott

There are so many things I want to say and there are even more things I wish I could have said to Matt before he left us.

First and foremost, I want to say thank you. Thank you so much for everything. Thank you for your help, support, encouragement, advice, input and your crazy antics that left us all bewildered.

Thank you for sharing your time, your effort, your passion. Thank you for doing things you might not have even realized you had done. Thank you for sharing yourself with us. Thank you for listening. Thank you for helping us do the things we never imagined we were capable of, thank you for watching us accomplish those things with a smile on your face to let us know we totally owned it.

Another thing I would like to say is that we are going to miss you so much and I’m sad you had to leave us this way.

You had such an impact on so many people’s lives, and I hope you knew that you were an inspiration to me and probably many others, to go out there and do something, be something, be someone, be heard. You were always the one to throw a little joke after one of my presentations to let me know it went as well as I had hoped it would, and make me feel like I could do it again in a heartbeat.

You were one of those people that had a certain “something” about them, and no one knew what it was, it was just…there.

I loved when you would sit in on our meetings, because it was so comfortable. I didn’t have the feeling I was being scrutinized, watched from behind glass, being graded on everything I did. I knew you were really interested in hearing what we had to say and I felt like you were actually interested in participating and giving us your input and your feedback.

I can’t stress enough what a big impact you had on all of us and I hope you knew what a big role you played in all our lives.

You left us some big shoes to fill and for every presentation I do, every change I make, every person I impact, I will always remember you and I will always cherish the time you spent with us.

I really hope you knew how much you meant to all of us, and I hope you know wherever you are that you will always have a place in our hearts.

You can never be replaced but you will always be remembered.

Note: Julie also told a story about a how she would decorate Matt’s name cards at meetings with pink unicorns and how this escalated until, while at a conference together, Julie got hold of Matt’s conference pass and decorated it more elaborately than any of his other name tags. When Matt found his pass, he put it around his neck, put on a sweatshirt and zipped it up over the pass, undoubtedly while cracking a wry smile. Julie told this story to illustrate what a great sport Matt was, and when she was finished, she gave a small unicorn figurine that she had decorated for Matt to Matt’s mother Karen.