PLEASE READ!! VERY Important!!! About MATT!!!!

[thehat101]

I really dont know what to say except this is a sad day.. I hope he is in a better place. he is a great dude

[Whitefish]

Matt & I traded a few bombs back in the day & tried to meet up when he got that new job. He was in Ohio for training, but it just did not happen. This really sucks!! I was just thinking about Matt the other day & hoping to hear from him on the boards again & then I got the message....Man, it feels like a punch in the gut

[Cycleman]

Today... through tonight....

Cyber-Herf honoring Matt Cole's life and great SMILE! 2day 8pm




http://cigar-review.com/index2.php?opti ... pic&t=6818

[andrew_will1]

I feel sorry for all Matt's friends and family, it's shitty to see anyone go... especially someone so young...

[lazylightningNY-cr]

Originally Posted by Cycleman

Today... through tonight....
Cyber-Herf honoring Matt Cole's life and great SMILE! 2day 8pm
http://cigar-review.com/index2.php?opti ... pic&t=6818

So sorry, Michael, I just picked this thread up, so I missed the cyberherf, but I'll fire one up tonight in Matt's honor. I did not know the dude, but the news blew me away because I was just reading some of his posts on another page. I noticed that he had over 2,000 posts, but I had not seen anything posted by him since I joined, so I was looking forward to seeing what he had to say now that he was back on the board. He seemed like a good friend to a few of our brothers on the board. my condolances to you, and his family. Sorry to hear the news.

[deriffe-cr]

Matt was a good friend. I've known him for almost two years. He was a college student just north east of St Louis and got into the cigar hobby. I initially got to know him through a couple of other boards. When Whitey's Cigar Shop opened in Maryville, it became our hang out. Matt ended up working there part time his last year in school. After he graduated, he moved into an apartment about a half mile from the shop so if he wasn't chasing skirts, he was at the shop. He was such a special young man with so much potential. This past Saturday, I went up to Whitey's and we all had a memorial cigar for Matt.

I took tomorrow off work so I can drive up to his funeral. I couldn't get to his wake tonight since I'm now a single parent. Once again, a good person was taken away too soon.

[Denahue]

Welcome deriffe. We are glad to have you here in your own rite as well as a friend of Matt's. I just wish your entry could have been under happier circumstances. If you get a chance, in the beginners thread, there is a please introduce yourself thread. Tell us just a bit about yourself. A very good group of BOTL, and SOTL here. You should have a good time, so post up often.

[deriffe-cr]

I drove up this morning to attend Matt's funeral. Nokomis, Illinois is a typical small farm town in middle America. The kind of place where people leave their doors unlocked and business can still be done with nothing more than a hand shake. I understood where Matt's integrity and all around goodness came from. It seemed like most of the town showed up for his funeral. It was standing room only, and there were a number of people standing.

His family had created picture boards depicting various stages in Matt's life, from early child hood all the way to the present. Of the hundreds of photographs of Matt's entire life I looked at, I can't remember one single picture where Matt wasn't smiling that big, larger than life goofy smile of his. There were two large photographs of Matt on top of the closed casket. Someone had placed a rather large Gurkha cigar along one of the photographs.

The pastor had never met Matt but clearly had spent a lot of time with his family. Of course he told of Matt's weight lifting prowess and the gentle giant that Matt was. He told how instead of taking his dirty clothes to the washing machine, Matt would take the washing machine to his clothes. How his Christmas presents were usually something to do with weight training and they were usually so heavy, his family couldn't bring them in to put under the tree. Matt was the only one who could lift them. But he also told some stories of what a conniving scamp Matt could be. He told of one time, many years ago, when he wrote a letter to Santa Claus and played the sympathy card trying to get Santa to help him get with a girl he had his eye on. He was chasing skirts even back then. I did get a big kick out of the music selection that started playing. Someone had set up a play list with several typical slow, mellow songs. Then suddenly, "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath started blasting through the speakers. This was followed by several additional head banging metal songs Matt listened too when he was lifting. Several of the more elderly people in attendance started squirming a bit. I know Matt was watching and laughing his ass off.

I remember the asshole side of Matt as well. Matt loved to stir the pot and get two people going just so he could set back and watch the fire works and then get the innocent look on his face like, "I didn't do it". I also remember setting in Whitey's with Matt talking about how heart broken he was when his girl friend broke up with him. He asked me the same question my own son asked me when the same thing happened to him. "What do I do now?" I told Matt the same thing I told my own son. I told him he would get up in the morning and get on with his life. Keep moving forward. He got through it but I don't think it ever completely left him. Matt was the type that once he gave his heart, he didn't take it back very easily.

Matt was clearly cherished in his home town. I know we cherished his friendship in his new home. I posted an entry in his online memory book at Legacy.com. Matt was just a couple of years younger than my own son. Matt had become a young man that any father would be proud to call son. My wife's legacy.com thread was very cathartic for me. I hope they help his family as much as it did me. If you knew Matt, please drop by and leave a message for his family.

http://www.legacy.com/belleville/GB/Gue ... =120990883

[Cycleman]

deriffe,

thank you so much for sharing.....

[JAX]

Originally Posted by Cycleman

deriffe,

thank you so much for sharing.....

+1

I can relate so much to Matt's life, that which I'm familiar with anyway. He was definately passionate about lifting; wish I had known that before I offered advice on how to develop a program one day in a thread here.

I'm glad to see the huge support his friends and family recieved at the funeral.

[riverdog-cr]

Thanks so much Deriffe. What a great kid he must have been.

[randomhero1090]

Thank you for sharing. Its so sad that I never got to know this man. Shows us how precious life really is.

Deriffe, I know I speak for everyone when I say you are so welcome to be here and share in our common bond. Please stick around!

[Sparhawk]

Originally Posted by randomhero1090

Thank you for sharing. Its so sad that I never got to know this man. Shows us how precious life really is.

Deriffe, I know I speak for everyone when I say you are so welcome to be here and share in our common bond. Please stick around!

+1

Thanks for sharing Deriffe

[markk96-cr]

Originally Posted by Cycleman

deriffe,

thank you so much for sharing.....

+ another

[Denahue]

Another +1

Your always welcome here!