Jesse Jenkinson's Thoughts

This is my first time ever speaking at a memorial or funeral of any type. The last time I can remember someone I knew passing away was my grandfather when I was eight years old and the memory is faint. So how to say some comforting words at a time like this almost escapes me. I don’t feel as though there is comfort with the way Silvanos died. There are no words that I can say to make anyone’s heart ache less or soul feel at ease. The only experience I have had with death was with a justified death, someone who had lived a long and full life and it was their time. But there is no justification I can think of for Silvanos’ death, nothing that can make me feel as though he was ready and it was his time. As much as I believe that everything happens for a reason, I cannot convince myself of that right now.

Silvanos was a young, bright, remarkable man. He was my friend, my mentor, my guide and my role model. He was the most positive, optimistic person I have ever met and it is really hard to know that I will never see him again. I think of his family, of his young children who will now grow up without his soothing and inspiring presence, growing up without their father. The hardest thing to come to terms with is that I never got to know him as well as I wished I had. That is the hard thing about being one of the ones left behind; you think of all the things you should have said or done, questions you should have asked, ways in which you should have cared more.

The right thing that we can now do is to remember Silvanos. He is not lost to us if we are active in our remembrance. Let not the memory of his smile or his contagious laugh fade. We can help to continue his fight for equality, for peace, for helping those in need. To know how many people he has touched around the world, to hear the cry of grief from all corners of this earth brings a smile to my face, knowing that Silvanos’ goals and dreams for his own family, and for the families and children he worked for can be met through all those who loved him and benefited from his guidance and presence. It is now our job to keep his work going and in that way we can keep his memory with us always.