From Tony

Tony shared this on Instagram and I wanted to save it here as well….

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A little over a week ago, I found my father, my hero, passed away in his home. In the whirlwind that followed, I’ve attempted to anchor my thoughts to the good memories and not the heaviness that surrounded his last moments. Among those memories are how well he loved my family and I. No matter what we were going through, he loved us in the most sacrificial ways possible. He relentlessly gave of himself, no matter how much or how little he had. 

I had the blessing of going back to work with him for the last few months. It was a gift from God to work along side him and see him on a daily basis. He was an incredible example of what it means to love people really well. If we had stayed in Hawaii or moved states, I would have regretted it forever. 

He had been suffering for quite some time—that became evident after he was gone—but you’d never know it. He was good at not drawing attention to himself. I appreciate his example in these matters. 

I remember, when Abbi and I were engaged and I was trying to figure out who my best man should be, it hit me that he was literally the best man I knew. I played with the idea for a bit and then told Abbi and she agreed, no matter how unorthodox, he really did deserve that position in our wedding. 

There’s so much more to say about him, but ultimately, my favorite thing about him was that he clearly marked the path ahead of me to follow God. He did this with his words and actions. He made what it meant to imitate Christ tangible for me and others. I pray I can do the same for my children—to display with my life that, no matter what the world chases after, that the highest good is to love God and others as intentionally as possible. 

My other favorite thing about him was how close he and Abbi became. He earned the place of surrogate-father in her life. Both were more than willing to commit murder on the behalf of the other. They were ferociously protective of each other. 

His last act on this earth was to call me up to meet him at four corners in Somerset to hand me Christmas money for the kids. He drove home and died. 

I love you with my whole heart pops!