A couple of weeks ago my family & I received an invitation to celebrate Jaycee's 30th birthday at Tavern on the Green. For those that don't know Jaycee he was a family friend who was part of the 9/11 tragedy. Ever since he was young he dreamed of working at the World Trade Center and he achieved his dream in April of that same year. We're very close to his family and I met them when I was about 7 years old. I was surprised that time has flown by so fast, but nonetheless I was happy to celebrate his birthday. A couple of days before the celebration/remembrance my tita called to ask me to talk at the lunch about my memories with Jaycee.
As I was thinking of memories with Jaycee, I had mixed emotions about giving a short speech. First, because I couldn't remember much, since I was young at the time when I spent time with Jaycee. I kept holding off writing anything until the night before. I wrote down a few of my memories and hoped it would be okay.
When we got to Tavern on the Green pictures of Jaycee were placed in front of the room. While we were seated I kept thinking of what I would say. As the time came there were people who sang songs for Jaycee as well as talk about scholarships held in his name at Rutgers and UP. My tita also shared more memories of Jaycee, which left everyone in tears. That whole time there was so much emotion in the room, you could feel how much everyone cared and missed Jaycee so much.
It turns out only another family friend and I were going to talk about our memories with Jaycee. Valerie went first and everything she said was filled with so much emotion, that many people cried along with her. After her they served cake and my tita asked me to go up, but I wasn't ready yet. I was still emotional from what Valerie said. But after a couple of minutes I regained my composure and got up to speak. I thought I was fine and wouldn't get emotional, but through the middle of what I was saying I started to shake and tear up. I couldn't help myself, it was at that moment that I realized how Jaycee made an impact on my life when I was younger. I took a deep breath looked at my tita and continued what I was saying. I'm not sure if the people could still understand me, but I went on anyway. I got to say everything I was feeling and was glad I went up in front of everyone. I hope Jaycee heard everything I said cause it was all true.
It was nice to see all the people that love & care for Jaycee. The afternoon was a time to reflect on all our memories as well as meet others who were also part of his life. We all miss him and there are still some times I think about him and when I was younger. He left us all with good memories and made me realize to strive hard for everything I want to achieve.
http://www.jacyscholarship.org/http://www.legacy.com/Sept11/Story.aspx?PersonID=108924http://getalife911.blogspot.com/2006/09/jayceryll-m-de-chavez.html