I knew Kevin for my entire adult life — first as my big sister Anne’s boyfriend, and soon after as her husband. Since the first time we met, I observed and appreciated his sincerity and his adoration of my sister. Kevin was easy to love — honestly, I’ve never known any person to be so transparently kind and altruistic. He was an amazing brother-in-law, and I was blissfully content knowing that my sister was so happily married for all those years.

His excitement and sense of wonder in learning new things about our interests or in sharing his knowledge of things that interested him was contagious, and it was always such a pleasure to be with him. He was perfectly designed to perform his role as uncle to our two children — they were ages 8 (Bridget) and 11 (Jacob) when Kevin was suddenly taken from us. When Kevin was with our kids, it was as though he was one of them, enjoying whatever experience the kids were having as though he was experiencing it through their eyes.

In particular, our son felt a strong bond with Kevin and I know that the two of them enjoyed each other immensely when they had the opportunity to be together. Jacob has stated for years, and continues to repeat regularly, his perception that among all adults that he knows, Kevin was the only one to sincerely enjoy listening to Jacob discuss his unique interests (which together, they shared). As such, Jacob also looked up to his uncle as a mentor, as Kevin’s career and other interests were along the same lines as our son’s. We took it for granted that Jacob would soon be spending some summers with Kevin and my sister Anne, shadowing Kevin and learning at camps personally researched and recommended by Kevin.

Occasionally Kevin makes an appearance in my dreams, and when I see him I am always so overjoyed to be with him again, but at the same time I am grief-stricken at the loss of him. On multiple occasions when I have seen Kevin in my dreams I have awoken crying. I think about him often. He was an angel. I miss Kevin so much. He was an angel.