If you were one of the lucky people that knew Junior, you were blessed. He changed you...you had no choice...his positive attitude and constant laughter was addictive. I can still close my eyes and imagine him walking in the house with a bottle of Gentleman Jack yelling "Hhhheeeyyyyyy." His smile was always so big that it seemed to reach his ears. He never greeted you with a handshake or nod, always a GINORMOUS hug. His voice was so loud and always a happy tone. He was the cheerleader for everything in life. If you told him something special was going on in your life, he wanted to know every detail and would be more excited then you were. He always had ideas on how to help my photography business and wanted me to succeed. Encouraging words and great ideas were his specialty...he was never negative about anything. He wanted the people that he loved to be happy and successful.
Junior knew how to make every situation special. We spent every birthday together for each one of us and he was the first person to make sure that the plans were made and it was special. One of my birthdays we went to a wine tasting event...after the tasting there was supposed to be a DJ and dancing. We were all excited for the dancing to begin. Once the music started it felt like an awkward 8th grade school dance. Everyone stood on the edges of the room and the dance floor was empty. It took about a half of a song of this for Junior to change things up. He asked if I wanted to dance and when my answer was yes...but no one is dancing....his response was....Let's fix that. HE DID. He slid on the dance floor and did his cowboy dance move and started hollering for us to join him. We had so much fun that night and were all a sweaty mess by the time they closed. This is just one of the million memories I have with him. He wanted everyone to feel special and important. He wanted everyone to always have a good time. His soul was HAPPY and if you spent 30 seconds with him, your soul was happy too.
There was no one like him in the world...he left an impression on everyone he met. He was a great example of a husband, loving Catarina with all of his soul. He would see her walk in the room and his eyes would light up. Few people get to experience that type of love. His love and devotion to his girls was admirable. He spent so much time making sure those girls knew their daddy loved them...he wanted them to be the best at everything. His example as a son and friend is something I hope that people carry with them and learn from...change who they are and become more like Junior. All I can think of is, if we had more Junior's in the world...it would be a better place.
It makes me sad to know that my kids will never get to meet him. He was such a huge part of our life. We will make sure to keep his memory alive forever, sharing memories and pictures as the years pass. It is hard to understand why something like this would happen to such a great man...but instead of questioning it, I choose to still love him and honor his memory by living life to the fullest everyday. I hope you are still watching over us Junior and every now and then holler out a HEEEEYYYY to me and give me that GINORMOUS hug!
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