Tonight I had to attend a wake of a 23 year old guy who I’ve known since I was little. He was born with a disease called PPH. Your organs fail you, they fight against each other. I stood at that wake by myself and I stared at him in that casket as people spoke about memories and his accomplishments. The words buzzed around my head, the only thought I had was how I wished I would of just been there for him. When he was scared or lonely or depressed, and it broke my heart. In life you may go around thinking you have a right to treat people differently because of the way they appear on the outside, maybe they sound different or built different but you never know the battles that people are going through. On the outside he looked so happy, he was the perfect camp counselor always running around with the kids, never for a second complaining about the heat, he was so gentle and soft spoken. To everyones surprise he was supposed to be on oxygen for the past year his lungs were failing him, but he refused too, he wanted to live a normal strong life. He fought until he literally couldn’t any longer.
Out of all the life lessons I’ve learned so far, he was the most important. I will forever hold Shawn “boo boo” Bray close to my heart. Don’t ever judge people by the way they look, sound, or before you even know them, you don’t know what struggles they face when they lay down at night. 
Shawn Bray, you’re amazing, you touched so many lives and I’m so grateful to have known you. You’ll always have a permanent place in my mind and my heart. You taught me about life. Rest peacefully boo boo… You deserve it. <3
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