Steven Joseph Amato
Dec. 20, 1973 -- Aug. 7, 1993
My Dearest Steven,
Sometimes if I listen very carefully I can still hear your voice
and it's so clear it's as if you are standing right behind me. I never got to say
good-bye to you or to tell you how much I loved you and how proud I was of you. When
you died I not only lost a son but I also lost my best friend. I don't know how I
have survived without you and Matthew. The pain at times is so great that I feel
like I can't breathe. At times it hurts too much to remember and then at times I am
so afraid that I will forget. The thought of never seeing you again or talking to
you again is unbearable. I will never go to your wedding or hold your newborn child.
There was still so much left for you to do. I watched you grow from a little
boy into a man that anyone would have been proud to call their son. As I watched you
walk on stage in your uniform as you graduated from Boot Camp I had tears in my eyes and I
wanted to stand up and tell everyone around me that the fine young man standing on stage
was my son and how blessed I was that God had chosen me to be your mother. I am
thankful for the 19 years that we had together but somehow that just doesn't seem to be
enough. A big part of me died along with you and Matthew. I know that you are
together again and I am counting on you to teach him all the things that I didn't have a
chance to. Well, my dearest Steven, please never forget how very much I love you and
one day we will all be together again and then when I hear your voice and turn around you
will be there.
All my love,