MICHAEL J. SETTEMIO

Hey Patches. We just celebrated the July 4th holiday which always brings me back to your last July 4th in 2014 when you came to our annual party with your friends. I´d give anything for one more day with you. I pray you are finally at peace and with other family members who have passed. Everything here has changed since you left us and every celebration brings thoughts of how different things would be if you were still with us. Obviously, we get through the days, months and years but missing...

Hi Patches. Although I talk to you every day somehow writing on certain dates is therapeutic so I continue to write to you. It´s is now 9 years since we lost you and my world has changed so much. Family is ever changing so welcoming new members and losing others is expected. Welcoming your nephew, Michael, almost 2 years ago was very exciting and I know for certain that you are watching over him. Thank you so much for that. I pray to you all the time and I pray for you, too. On this eve...

Hi Patches. Although I talk to you every day somehow writing on certain dates is therapeutic so I continue to write to you. It´s now 9 years since we lost you and my world has changed so much. Family is ever changing so welcoming new members and losing others is expected. Welcoming your nephew, Michael, almost 2 years ago was very exciting and I know for certain that you are watching over him. Thank you so much for that. I pray to you all the time and I pray for you, too. On this eve before...

Happy Birthday Patches! Today you would have turned 28 years old. It is hard to comprehend losing you so young and what life may have had in store for you. I guess it wasn´t meant to be, you were too kind to roam around here with the rest of us. Many of your friends have married and started families. I´m sure you would have loved being a part of all of it! As for me, I miss you more than ever. You are always in my heart and I cherish my memories of you, that last birthday when you turned 19...

Hi Michael, today marks 8 years since your beautiful smile, generous gestures and kind soul have blessed those of us who love and miss you. It´s impossible for me to imagine how many more lives you could have touched had I not lost you. I do know that this earth was a better place when you were here and I miss you every day. It is unfortunate that it can take a horrible loss to learn to appreciate every person in our lives each and every day and to never miss an opportunity to tell loved ones...

I write this entry with both sadness and hope in my heart. Although we mark the 7th anniversary of your death and all that encompasses; Christmases, birthdays, Thanksgivings, music festivals and so many experiences I can´t imagine you would have had between 2015 and 2022. You may have married and started a family, we will never know. As it turns out your brother and his wife will be having a son within the next month. They have chosen to name their son after you. It feels strange and...

My beautiful son, Michael, you would have turned 26 today. I can only imagine the man you could have been. Your life and your beaming smile were snatched away from all of us much too soon. To say I miss you doesn´t come close to the emptiness I feel having lost you. I know you are in a better place and you are finally free from the burdens that affected you so deeply. Please keep John and Aviana close and watch over them as well as Krissy and the baby. There is an emptiness in my heart that...

Hello Patches. Today marks the sixth anniversary of your passing and the most difficult loss of my life. I miss you all the time and think of you every day. I remember the warm and loving person you were and I wonder who you would have been today at age 25. Although I am constantly saddened by the fact that you left us all far too soon I do expect to be reunited with you one day. That is what permits me to wake up and face every day with faith and hope. I miss you and will love you forever...

Hi Patches! Today your friend Jimmy raised over $1000.00 for your scholarship fund. He held a fundraiser and with the help of his family it was very successful. I saw many of your friends. It warmed my heart to see how many people remember and love you. For me it was bittersweet. I miss you every day and long to be with you in heaven. But the hearts you touched in your short 19 years will never forget you. You are loved. Till we meet again-mom