In Memory

Below is a lovely tribute to our dear friend Amie Vertucci along with a poem written by one of her friends. She lived a beautiful and short life and will be remembered by many. I don't know that David or I can say much now, so these are the words we'll share with you.

Amie
There are some people
we are meant to gently,
but deeply, ponder,
even meditate on.

They aren't the ones with
the boisterous charisma
of the sunflower.

Nor do they have
the fluffy elegance of
the peony. Rather,

they are one of those
more subtle flowers
with an exotic name

and an ironic simplicity
which is the thing that
draws you in - at first;

then as you get closer,
its unspoiled, delicate beauty
captures and holds you there -

that unique and truest beauty
which suddenly you realize
satisfies all you've been looking for
in a flower.

It's one of the many miracles,
the glorious mysteries of God,
how you came to look and be

more like Him than ever
now, when death and disease
has tried its power on you -

it's tried to crush you,
and you've felt the weight.
But what you didn't know

is when you merely arise
to another day, carrying a load
we can't take off of you,

the light inside you -
how you love, how you cherish
every company you are in -

shines more brightly now,
showing us even more clearly,
more beautifully,

the precious, rare gems
of which you are made.
-Virginia Hart Pike

Amie Lee Vi Matulac Vertucci was born on March 17, 1975 in Mlang, Cotobato, Philippines, and died today, Thursday, October 9, 2008, at 12:10 pm, at the age of 33, in Columbus, Ohio. Amie is loved by so many, most of all by myself, by her Mom, Ledelia, by her brother, Allen Val, and by so many relatives and friends, many of whom knew and called her by her childhood nickname, Sunshine. She was with family and friends today, and we sang hymns, spoke softly to her, and prayed as she took her final breath.

Amie and I were married on April 7, 2001, in Queens, New York. We lived in Brooklyn for a year, then Staten island for one year. For the past five years, we've lived in the Columbus area, the last two and a half years of that time in Hilliard, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus.

In March of this year, we happily learned that Amie was pregnant. In July, she delivered our daughter, Bianca Hope, prematurely at nearly five months of pregnancy. At the same time, she was diagnosed with stage IV stomach cancer, which eventually took her life.

She loved people, loved to worship, and to serve the Lord and her brothers and sisters. In some way, each of you experienced that love, which was and is Christ's love in her.

There is so much more to say, and we will celebrate her life, and worship the Lord, at two separate memorial services, first in Columbus and then in New York City. There will be no public viewing, as was her wish. Details of the memorial services will follow shortly.

In Love,
Paul