How do you say goodbye to the child you never knew,
How do you say goodbye, when saying goodbye is all you can do

My son Matthew, gone to a new life above,
Now with his grandparents,
In a new world filled with love.

How do say goodbye to the one you once held,
As a baby in your arms,

How do you go back in time?
And stop him from the harm?

Who is there to talk to?
That would understand,
Even in a world of madness,
This can’t be God’s plan

To take a young life,
With so much promise ahead,
To take a young man,
From living to dead

So many people left behind,
His mum, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends
All asking the same question,
Why him, why Matthew

How do you say goodbye to the son, brother, nephew and friend
That was so much a part of your life,
How do you say goodbye to a young man,
How many times do you ask “why?”

For me the questions come deep from the soul,
Reaching through and tearing my heart
“Why didn’t I make the time to know him?”
“Why didn’t I make the time to love him?”

In the end, he and I will talk,
And I will teach him to fish,
And he will teach me to love,

It is in my daughter’s life,
And in all the lives around me,
That I will find Matthew again,
Each time I watch her laugh,
Or see my nephews smile,
It will be in these moments,
Those moments of love, kindness and innocence
That Matthew will be in my heart the most

Now he is with his Grandparents,
Seiuli and Fua, and he is happy.
They will keep him safe until we meet again.