A Love Letter to Austen

Through their mission, the Austen Everett Foundation hopes to liberate children from their illness while raising awareness and funds to fight the battle against cancer. AEF coordinates with the child’s favorite sport team or athlete and give them a once-in-a-lifetime experience to become a professional or intercollegiate athlete for that specific sport and game.

AEF offers the opportunity for a child to share moments of laughter, happiness and gain an everlasting bond with an athlete. AEF aims to achieve Austen’s dream of showing kids firsthand that cancer should not define who you are.

To those who have loved, to those who have hurt, to those who have wept in the depths of pain and tragedy. Today I sit here in deepest pain looking into the eyes of the most amazing woman I have ever met. As I sit on the side of the hospital bed gazing into your light hazel eyes I can see your soul, a highlight reel of the past 3 years with you plays over and over. The good the bad the ugly! But I wouldn’t exchange any of those bad or uglies for anything because it took us on a journey, a journey where we found true love and deep passion for one another. Until now I never realized what people saw us as or how much they learned from our true love for each other. I guess that’s because I was so caught up in loving you and you loving me that I didn’t even realize we were teaching others how to love and how to cherish the ones that are important. Most of all my love, you have taught me things no book, no person nor experiences will ever teach me. You’ve taught me to love in the deepest possible way, to hold someone so tight to your heart that when something happens to you I can feel it deep down in there. My heart today and my heart forever will be shattered into bits and pieces. Every time I think of you my heart pumps so fast and so heavily it’s overwhelming at times, but comforting to know that you my love will always have my heart!

Always and Forever you are my Butterfly!

Matt Luzunaris

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