Andrew was a stand-up guy...

From a classmate—

I have a lot of fond memories with Andrew. I can't tell you how many times I saw him do the right thing when it was the hard thing to do. He was a stand-up guy, and I'll miss him.

A family who knew him through church, sports, school and socializing—

Andrew is remembered as a friend to all in our family. He was a great person to be around. He gave everything he did his best and he accomplished much. Andrew was a respectful, polite and obedient young man. A day has not passed since we learned about his death that we haven’t remembered something he said or did that brings a smile to our face. Andrew made many friends in his short time here and we consider ourselves very fortunate to be someone he touched. Kathleen, Bill, Jayne and Rebecca your son/brother is a very special person.

From a youth coach—

Andrew Ramos. What a kid. What a ball player. When I first coached Andrew in little league I knew he would give 110% all the time. It didn’t matter what position I had him play, he could do it all. He could hit, run, and field with the best.
Andrew was a very intense player and always wanted to do better each game; and he usually did. Andrew was one of the easiest kids to coach. He would listen and then would just go out on the field and do it. Sometimes Andrew would be his worst critic about how he was playing, but that didn’t matter because he would go back out there and try even harder to be the best he could.
I still remember that Ramos smile and that never ending desire to play baseball. Andrew had a real good throwing arm, so I guess I saw a quarterback in him, but that was not be because baseball was his true love.
As Andrew was getting older I would see him from time to time and he always had that big Ramos smile, and would ask: “How’s it going?” As I think about my past coaching career, Andrew always comes to mind because he was easy to coach and I could always count on him to do his best. The thing that I admired most about Andrew was his love of the game. Even though he is no longer with us, his memory will live on and will not be forgotten
Andrew, thanks for the time I got to spend with you.

My entry on the obituary guestbook—

Our loss of Andrew is so devastating and we will miss him in so many ways every day for the rest of our lives. The support we have already received from family, friends, hospital staff, employers, and everyone has been so gratifying and helpful in getting through the first week and I want everyone to know the worst is over...Andrew is safe and protected in the loving company of his grandparents, uncles and aunt who have gone before him.
It is our hope that you will remember Andrew with a smile as you perform a task, offer a service to someone, complete a project or participate in a sport or competition. As Andrew was loving and giving, so shall we endeavor to keep that spirit alive every day.

...so I think I will get up now and go clean the bathrooms and scrub some floors. I will do a thorough job and take pride in my work. That was Andrew's way...

Miracles working here...

Today was something of a miracle. We put on a party...a celebration of my sister's marriage that took place almost three months ago. We were, in essence, the caterers for the event. It was a low-key gathering of family and friends of the newlyweds.

My ex-husband likes to barbecue. My oldest daughter's boyfriend Tyler has been a banquet captain and my girls worked with him for a while doing banquet serving while they were in college. Today my fiance and my ex-husband and my two daughters, the boyfriend, my older sister and Andrew's cousin put on the barbecue for 100 people and set up the room in an old barn for the reception dinner.

The boys set up the tables for me and Rebecca brought the linens, which she and Tyler insisted we must have. They were all white with some purple ones for accents. Rebecca and Tyler "clouded" the serving table with purple linens, meaning they gathered some tablecloths along the tabletop in pillow-top fashion and arranged the platters and food on top of it. My older sister brought gravevines which we used to string along the tables and on the walls for decoration. She had a bunch of spider plants in 4"container which she wrapped in purple foil and set amongst the grapevines. Rebecca and I had wrapped all the plastic forks and knives in purple napkins and tied them with green satin ribbon. I had made the bride's favorite butter cake with chocolate buttercream frosting and set up a pretty cake table using some grapevine swags for accents on a three-tiered cake stand. Jayne had decorated a guest book for the occasion and with some borrowed accessories like a grape-motif punch decanter and silver wine bowl and some electric swag grape-lights, we created a beautiful room in an old barn. It was all white and deep purple and green. It was really a sight!

I'm sure some of my family members and the guests who know us wondered at how I managed to get my ex and my fiance working together in this endeavor. I saw a couple of my brothers (I have six brothers) go over and give Bill a hug, and I was so glad. It can be hard to be the ex around relatives.

But the real miracle was that my ex was barbecuing and my fiance was his helper on this day. That had always been Andrew's job. My nephew was working there in Andrew's place, too, and that's good. Andrew showed them the way and they honored him today by taking over his duties. Of course, it took two of them to do his job... : ))

It's different for Bill, not having Andrew helping him, but I think he enjoyed today's process. It also gave him a chance to talk to my fiance, Lee, while they were barbecuing. After we got home later that evening, Bill called to let me know he and the girls will be joining us at our grief counseling session tomorrow. After four months, they are ready.

Hallelujah! I am so happy.