Sarah Lyn Rooney

(1981 - 2002)

    Beloved daughter, sister, and friend; Sarah was the most beautiful, kind, and compassionate person that I have ever known. She is sadly missed and thought of quite often. A parent should not ever have to see their child pass, let alone fall pray to the final cost of a horrible disease. I can not fathom what her mother and father must feel in regards to the loss of their daughter. For me, Sarah being my girlfriend, my friend, a true and loyal companion who wanted nothing more than to be loved and accepted, she was my princess. I often wondered what I did to deserve such a beautiful person to share my life with. Her death was especially hard for me, since I was in prison at the time she passed away. I felt helpless and guilty, and I was not even able to attend her services. Every now and then I will get a glimpse of someone who looks like her in a crowd, and every time I have to remind myself that it can't be her. However, I know that she is always near as I often feel her presence. There is a place that we used to spend time together, we would read, or talk, we would kiss, and laugh. This is the place where I feel her presence the most. At times I swear I can almost hear her laugh in the wind.

Shortly before she passed, she sent me a poem that she had found in a book, and she loved it and thought to share it with me. It turned out to be a poem by Edgar Allen Poe, one of my favorite poets. Shortly after I came home from prison, I went to "our" spot, sat quietly and read the poem to Sarah, and I read it to her each year on the day that she passed. It was my way of saying goodbye. Afterwards I felt a sense of relief, of closure. It was no longer the gushing wound it had been for so long; now it was remembering the good times, remembering the beautiful person Sarah was. Sarah, you will always be missed and you will always be loved, but then again, I don't have to tell you this, because it's something you already know.

With love and respect,
Eric