A Tribute to
Matthew Colson
Our beloved son, Matthew Thomas Colson, went home to be be with God way too soon, at the young age of 18. This page is a tribute to him and we hope to record some of the music he wrote and share it here as well. The logo used on this website is a picture that Matthew drew and left on my desk while he was waiting to go home one day after school.
Tribute Video
Below is the third part of Matthew’s Remembrance Video, meticulously prepared by our good friend, Paul Holtz. The tattoo you will see on Matthew’s arm is in memory of Matthew’s Cousin, Jonathan Erekson who passed on to eternal life at the young age of 14. It’s a rendering of a pocket watch that Jonathan had owned that is still with Matthew. Matthew had only been playing the banjo for about 6 days when this video was taken.
Words of Remembrance
Matthew’s Funeral Mass
October 14, 2021, The Church of Holy Apostles, McHenry, Illinois
A lot of kids know what they want to be when they grow up, either at an early age or in their first year or two in high school, but Matthew didn’t really know. As we heard last night from our good friend Tim, at one time, he talked about being a firefighter. He also talked about being a professional chef (I guess because he was really good at making ramen noodles at 3 in the morning) He talked about being a veterinarian, playing music, doing music production. Matthew searched for and watched tons of YouTube videos of amazing musicians that he was blown away by. He would send them to me often and many of them blew me away too!
Matthew thought he would never be good enough to play music professionally because of this, so he said that maybe just being a real estate agent sounds good. Above all, he always said that he wanted to be famous. He looked up to several famous people, which lately, included mostly his favorite musicians and when he was younger, famous skateboarders. He loved seeing what kind of cars celebrities drove and found out all about their jewelry and how much it cost. He was also obsessed with their shoes. HE LOVED SHOES! I’m the kind of guy who buys one pair of dress shoes and one pair of sneakers as cheap as I can get them and wears them for a year.
So many people have been touched by our wonderful, loving, beautiful boy. It was amazing last night to see all the “mostly teenage” coworkers that Matthew made such a huge impression on. After graduating high school in May, he only worked at one place for about 3 months and had only been at Walmart for a little over a month. One coworker told us last night: “Everybody walks by me and ignores me, except for Matthew.” He said that Matthew is the only one who EVER has stopped to ask him how his day was. He said “He looked me in my eyes and genuinely cared and asked me how I was all the time.”
These are not difficult things to do and make such an impact on people. It is my sincerest hope that people who met Matthew and hopefully, all those listening to these words right now, will realize that everyone is going through something we probably know nothing about and needs love, mercy compassion and kindness. The kindness and compassion that our son Matthew showed. Earlier, I said that Matthew wanted to be famous. Matthew, you are famous! Not because of fortune or prestige that many others have. Your best friend, Franky said last night that you saved her life multiple times. As we heard in today’s Gospel Reading: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Be kind, be good to one another.
Please let his legacy be that we all accept one another for who they are… and all that they are… like Matthew did. Love people where they are at. Accept them. Don’t judge them and walk with them as Christ did and let Him be the judge, not us. One of the lyrics in one of Matthew’s favorite songs says: “Everyone’s born with self worth, how easily it turns to doubt.” And another of his favorites that we sang last night and will sing again at Matthews place of rest says:
“Hopefully we had a damn good life while we had it, but hopefully, if we’re lucky, we’ll die with dignity.”
24K Casket – Song by Amigo the Devil
Matthew, we had a damn good life… and you… you died with dignity. I love you son and your mother and I are so proud to have shared 18 wonderful years with you. Until we see you again, our Beautiful Boy.