Jason and my sister Cathy and I became very close friends about 10 years ago. Jason had been my sister Jackie’s very best male buddy. We had known Jason for a few years because Jackie would bring him to parties, dinners, movies etc. But we didn’t know him really well. He was just a good friend of our sister’s. He seemed like a very nice young man (he was several years younger than all of us) thoughtful, sweet, smart and easygoing. As the years went by Jason and Jackie became even closer friends and they even spent several vacations together in beautiful and adventurous countries -- from Ireland to Israel. 10 years ago, Jackie died unexpectedly in her sleep. She was 44 years old. It was a shock to all of us. I only tell you this because that was the moment that our lives changed forever, and the ONLY good that came out of that situation was that our own unique love and friendship with Jason began. You know how people say “ I am there for you”…well Jason didn’t say it , he just DID it. Jason stood up like no other and took care of Cathy and I emotionally, physically and spiritually from that day forward. Jason was there for us in every way you could think of and more--more than anybody else in our lives. The first thing he did was immediately take one of Jackie’s beloved cats Abby. He took her into his home even though it was not easy for him at all. He cared for her and loved her until we were settled and ready to take her back. Jason set aside expressing his own grief to care for us like a true brother, and selflessly took care of us in so many ways. From that moment on –Jason was our family and he held a very special and huge place in our hearts, and he always will. He stood in for Jackie in any way he could ,he filled the empty hole and consoled and cared about us --and we were a trilogy once again. We seemed to be a huge priority for him. For several years we all grieved together on the anniversary of Jackie’s passing and spent time together on the beach honoring her life. Jason called us every year on that day and never forgot to send us flowers or cookies on our birthdays. Never longer than a couple weeks would go by when we didn’t speak for all these years. In the past few years, Jason continued to try to help me heal by spending some vacations with me. We went to Hawaii, Montreal, Portland, etc. He was the BEST date anybody could have ever had!!! I was never as adventurous as Jason and Jackie I was always fearful and Jason helped me to feel safe and have FUN. He was so patient with me and my quirks, he never complained, we never argued (because he was just so EASY to love and get along with) and he was helping me slowly get out of my shell and be social again. I wanted to take more trips with him and was constantly asking him to go with me somewhere. But Jason had so many friends and travel partner’s he had to spread his time around with various people because he had so many that loved him. I will always treasure our last vacation together. We went to Honolulu and in trying to make the short trip fun I had planned a wild dolphin swim in the ocean. We went out on a boat and they dropped us in the water and we swam close to wild dolphins. As always I was nervous at first. Jason instinctively grabbed my hand underwater and pulled me along. He held my hand the entire swim and never left my side. We listened together underwater to the sounds of the dolphins and he gripped my hand tightly to alert me to the giant turtles swimming right next to us. When we got back to the shore we took a tandem parasailing ride. As we were pulled high up in the sky at the exact same moment we looked down into the water and saw one single dolphin jump high in the air and do a little performance for us. We both said…”Jackie”…we felt the presence of Jackie with us at that moment. I tell this entire story because I can honestly say that after Jackie’s death, without Jason, I don’t know if I ever could have smiled, laughed or had fun again. I will forever be grateful to him for his friendship, loyalty, reliability, loving counsel, sympathetic ear, and most of all his limitless LOVE. I feel truly honored to have shared some of his life with him.