We run pictures of you on the digital photo frame in the kitchen each day.  At first it was hard to look at images of you, seeing you so vibrant, so alive.  It’s still hard, but at times, it’s also a comfort.  You were a happy guy, it’s written all over your face.  That’s my comfort.  Without exception you look healthy, happy, proud, handsome, comfortable in your own skin and in some pictures you look like the embodiment of bliss.  There’s a picture of you walking down the hill towards the cliff where you and Taylor would soon say your wedding vows and it looks like you’re floating.

There’s one of you standing at the stove at your house in Austin, cornbread and cabbage with bacon in the background and there you stand, obviously explaining the reasoning behind the traditional New Year’s Day meal beginning with “You see…”

A favorite of mine is a picture of you holding Rowan, a few weeks old at most, his head cradled in your hand, and you, so gently at peace with your nephew.

There are pictures of:

Mason the traveler, chef, friend
Mason the son, gardener, music-lover
Mason the brother, boyfriend, husband, uncle, grandson
and a very contemplative
Mason the thinker, sitting on a boulder, looking at the Pacific.

In every picture, you look happy – happy to be wherever you are.  Maybe you knew a thing or two about living in the moment.

As I learn my life anew, may I be empowered by loving memories.