Jacob Elliot {The Dirty Italian}

While I was in D.C. I received a couple of texts and calls that one of my closest friends was in a coma and had only a couple of hours to live. I just had a really good dinner and was walking back with Matt and some friends to go back to our hotel room when I received the call from my sister Sheryll. She told me that Jake was dying. It hit me so hard that it brought me back to reality. I cried to her on the phone and told her to tell him goodbye for me. All I wanted at that very moment was to be in that hospital room, comforting him and spending the last hours of his life with him. I felt like I was trapped. I was on the other side of the country while one of my best friends was preparing to leave the earth. My friend Bridget comforted me and told me that it was possible for him to pull through and fight it. I prayed silently on the way back to our hotel. I prayed for him to be strong and prayed that he would live a long life. About an hour after I had found out I received a call from my brother-in-law Russ. He wanted me to know that Jake had passed away. I think this happened on Night 6 of our D.C. trip. I felt so guilty inside that I was on vacation having fun while Jake's family and friends were grieving for the loss of their son, husband, and father.

Jake was like a big brother to me. He was like a son to my parents. I remember my sister Yves and her boyfriend at the time Eric told him that if he wanted to date me, then he would have to stop swearing. He stopped swearing for about 2 weeks. . . we went on our date.  It felt very platonic. . . and he started swearing again the next day. 

Here's a picture of him about a couple of years ago. I miss him.