Excelsior (32 page)

After beating cancer, he was filled with ideas that he went out of his way to share with me. All different kinds of business plans that were a blast to hear. And as he got older, he started to get even more focused on what he wanted to do and then set out to accomplish each of those goals. He wanted to be an altar boy, so he did it. Later on, he wanted to get into Boy Scouts just as I did, but while I stopped going after the move to
Richmond
, Matt kept going. He wanted to be an Eagle Scout, so he did it. Only 2 percent of all scouts go on to reach Eagle. Matt was one of them, and I'll never forget the certificate he got that was signed by President Clinton (even though he was a Republican, which set off many spirited debates between us).

So this cancer-beating Eagle Scout wanted to keep going. Inspired by our grandfather, who is a former firefighter and one of the few in his engine company to have his number retired, Matt took the tests to be a volunteer firefighter and passed them all. And it wasn't long after that when he took the necessary steps to become an
EMT
.

As an
EMT
, Matt was not only on the
Jersey
shore during 9/11, but he helped deliver a baby a few years later. He became his company's mascot, the centerpiece in his group, and he reached every single goal he set to accomplish since he was a child.

And then he met Dawn, who was the missing piece that nobody in his family could provide. She made him so happy that anytime he sent me an instant message, you could almost see his text glowing on the screen. And that screen was glowing pretty damn brightly when he told me on February of 2005 that he was engaged. He then asked me to be his best man, and I immediately said yes. I couldn't wait to stand by his side as he started a new chapter in his life.

But that wasn't to be. While I never got to stand by him as his best man, he was able to stand by me as one of mine. Cheryl got me a set of cufflinks for my tuxedo shirt that opened up and revealed a space for a picture in each one. So I got to put Matt's picture in there, while my best friend Joe did a great job standing by me in his place.

It seemed only right that I was to name my main character in this novel Matthew Peters, since he is someone who is destined for greater things in his life. The main difference between my cousin Matthew and the character Matthew is that my cousin never had to come in contact with a sword from another world to bring that greater person out of him. He always was that greater person, someone who would take on every obstacle and cast them aside. By the time that his journey came to an end, he had become an Eagle Scout, a volunteer firefighter and an
EMT
– all the while in a body that barely passed 5 feet and was given only a few days notice by doctors over 20 years ago. And with Dawn in his life, he was complete.

So while I continue to miss Matt, I can take solace in the fact that he did everything he wanted and found everything he needed. He lived the ultimate abridged life, surprising everyone with what he could do except the people who knew him most, and if I can find it in me to tackle each day the way he did, I know he'll be with me every step of the way.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

They say, no man is an island. And the journey to take “Excelsior” to publication is the ultimate example of this. As soon as I started writing on my blog to begin spreading awareness of the novel - http://www.georgesirois.com - I immediately started receiving pre-order deposits from friends, family members, classmates, co-workers and fellow writers from 411Mania.com.

I couldn’t be more thankful for their support, so please allow me to introduce you to all of the people without whom, this book would not be where it is today:

George & Peggy Zur Heide

Susan Yacker

Jackie Witt

Dashawn Wilson

Liza M. Wiemer

Chad
& Steph Webb

Rudolfo Velez, Jr.

Melissa, Tom & Evan Velez

Lily Vega

Alex Valles

Rick Tym

Brenda Troncoso

Chris Torres

Rosemarie Torres

Ryan Thompson

James Thomlison

Margaret & Eric Thomas

Jeremy Thomas

C.J. & Debbie Stonnell

Scott Slimmer

George & Viola Sirois

Wesley & Susan Sirois

Mary Ellen Sirois

Amy Shimerman

Kelly Scanlon

Eric Savadow

Rick Savadow

Richard Santana

Bailey & Ben Salomon

John Rivera

Jim & Gail Risse

Viola Risse

Jonathan Rigaud

Jason Rideout

Gregory Revis

Tiffany Ranalli

Gregory Radicone

Joe, Peggy & Nick Pospisil

Tim O’Brien

George Nicolaidis

Ronald Ng

Brendan & Janessa Murphy

Michael Murphy

Kathryn & Jimmy Morbit

Andrew Mocete

Kenny & Stacie Missey

Nick Miranda

Big Mike Watters

Princess Michel

Melissa Mendelson

Hugh B. McCreight, Jr.

Dara Marsh

Courtney & Christopher Mallon

Betty Lum

Keneu Luca

Paul Lombardi

Paul Lindsay

Tara Levy

Shawn Lealos

Chris Lansdell

Frank Killeen

Charles Kessler

Garfield Kerr

Teresa Jusino

Alliece James

Claudia Jackson

Lisa Jackson

Tony Jackson

Art Horowitz

Denise Hornsby

Amanda Hirsch

Helene, Henry, John, Kate &

Annabelle Henkel

Lisa Henderson

Jonathan Hemphill

Sarah Hedges

Kim Hawkey

David & Liz Havasi

Jason Hammonds

William Hald

Xiomara Guzman

Stephen Gustafson

Sanjay Gupta

Gloria Gordon

Mark Fratto

Michael Fox

Joe & Betty Follmer

Patricia Follmer

Elvis Foley

Katie, Michael & Matthew Feehly

Christopher Ethridge

Saundra E. Goodman

Amy Durkin

Lori DePace

Anthony DeMeo

Carri Davis

Matthew, Amy & Lily Dallmann

Tara, Walter, Anne-Marie &

Jordan Cross

Marty Craig

Shanetia Clark

Andy Clark

Dave, Maurisa, Jonnie & Emily Charest

Robert Carpio

Erin Calabria

Ramone Bryan

Hollye Brooks

Gwen Blevens

Mare Biddle

Diana Barr

Christopher Barden

Carolyn Ballen

Amanda Ayala

Ilya, Laurie & Kaitlyn Arbit

Jean Almonte

Victoria Akins

Justin & Alissa Adler

Tony Acero

Michelle Abbott