Sharing Elli's amazing words to her favorite person in this world, so proud of my little girl who will miss Drew so desperately. Hug your loved ones a little tighter this holiday season...

Drew Patrick DiDonato's Eulogy, by Elli Lauren DiDonato

I have spent hours searching the internet for a word that could describe the kind of relationship Drew and I had. Here are some things that I found:

Best Friend noun- A person’s closest friend. 

No, not good enough…

Soulmate noun- a person ideally suited to another as a close friend. 

Still not good enough…

I then stumbled across the definition of a soulmate from Dawson's Creek and I found that it is the closest thing on the internet to describing our connection. It reads...

“It's like a best friend but more. It's the one person in the world who knows you better than anyone else. That someone who makes you a better person. No, actually they don’t make you a better person. You do that by yourself because they inspire you. A soulmate is someone you carry with you forever. It’s the one person who knew you, accepted you and believed in you before anyone else did or when no one else would. And no matter what happens, you’ll always love them and nothing could ever change that” 

Although that is closer to describing the bond that we had, I have found that there is no word to describe what we shared.

 I had an incredibly hard time figuring out how to start this and how to make it as special as Drew was. So, I resorted to the internet for ideas yet again. Turns out there is no how-to guide for how to lose your favorite person in the whole entire world. The person that felt like home. Home was where Drew was.

Every single time I was with Drew he left me better than he found me and I can say with complete confidence that he had that same impact on all the people he met. Most of the time however, he left me on the floor laughing so hard that I couldn’t breathe. All because of something he said that wasn’t even remotely funny but his insanely infectious laugh made it hilarious. Some of the time, his laugh was funnier than the actual joke being told. 

Drew was someone who never failed to put a smile on my face. When I was sick? He was over in the corner (as far as he could get, as we all know he is the biggest germaphobe) trying to make me laugh. When I was sad? He always knew how to make the tears go away and possibly turn them into tears of laughter. I cannot think of a time where he was unsuccessful in making me laugh. He is so quick to make a joke that most of us think to ourselves “how did he think of that?” But we will never know, and that is what made Drew so incredibly special. Actually, he would usually be the first one to laugh at his own jokes and somehow that made them even funnier. His laugh just boomed through the room and it was impossible to not start laughing with him. There were too many times to count where my mom would yell at me to stop laughing at his inappropriate jokes as it “only encouraged it more”, but I would do absolutely anything to hear one more inappropriate joke come from his mouth, shortly followed by his laugh booming through the room.  He had the most amazing laugh and man am I going to miss it.  

I would like to think that “our thing” was sitting down almost every night at about ten P.M. and starting some kind of TV show, documentary, Disney movie (which we managed to watch every single one this past summer by the way), comedy, reality TV show, or foreign movie that was in some other language and typically pretty dark. We would sit on the couch and enjoy each other’s company for hours on end. Typically going to bed around three in the morning after eating about two dinners and ice cream together. Those nights were perfect. That was “our thing”. We could just sit there with each other and completely enjoy the presence of the other person without saying a word. Our connection was special like that, we never really had to speak. I will never forget all the times that I sacrificed my sleep to sit with him just a little longer. But, if i’m being completely honest, I fell asleep almost every night on the couch and I would wake up to him kicking or pushing me to wake me up. I would act annoyed in the moment, but I would never really mind. Any time with him was good time, and I wish I could have just one more movie night. 

Apart from all of this he was so incredibly smart, like undeniably a genius kind of smart. What kid is reciting books at the age of two? Drew was the most intelligent person I have ever met. I have always called him “my personal Google” as I am almost completely sure he knew everything there is to know about this world. I mean, scoring a 35 on your ACT isn’t an easy task. But of course, in typical Drew fashion, he went into it unprepared and yet again wowed us all with how intelligent he was. Truly the smartest person I have ever met. 

Now, I would never tell him this as I think it would boost his ego a little too much, but he was sincerely the coolest person I knew and I looked up to him in all ways possible. He was the biggest role model in my life and although I thought I would never admit it, I have always wanted to be exactly like him. 

Any chance that I could get I would brag about him (and still do to this day) but I am so incredibly proud to be able to call myself a sister, let alone a sister to the most amazing human being I have ever known.

He made me feel so unbelievably special because I got to see the Drew that other people didn’t really get to see. I got to feel his deepest love for a person and I feel incredibly honored to have been that person. I have never felt so important to someone in my entire life. He made me feel so worthy, wanted, and loved. He loved so deeply and struggled to show it at times but I could feel every single ounce of his love and still do to this day. He used to tell me all the time that he didn’t love people for blood relation, but for the people that they are and how they treat others. That always made me feel so special to know that I got to experience his love. I will forever be grateful that I got to feel Drew’s love as it was truly one of a kind. An unwavering, you are my person, kind of love. He really was my person and still will be for the rest of my life. 

There are no correct words to describe this boy. And with that I wanted to say thank you. Drew, thank you for the most amazing 16 years together. Thank you for always making my day better and making me laugh no matter what. Thank you for being my soulmate. Thank you for allowing me to experience your deepest form of love. Thank you for allowing me to learn all about you and completely understand you. Thank you for being the best brother I could have ever imagined. I love you forever and always. I cannot wait to see you again and give you the biggest hug that you are going to get whether you like it or not. I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon.