Faith's photos from the funeral

Three amigas
Originally uploaded by ppfalcon.

Here are a few more photos from Matt's memorial service. I was glad to see a picture of my dear friend Alice, who flew from Phoenix to be with us. Now that the weather is turning cooler here in Ohio, it's nice to remember that sunny day in August when we were all together.


Nice picture of Lynn, Drew and Rachel.

Stories from Turtle

I remember that flyer Matt made for that show at the annex building. We had played there before and they put all these chairs out so of course everyone sat down it was very annoying and agitated Matt more than anyone. I think because he had been to some real underground shows in Colorado and it was appalling to him that people would actually sit down at a punk show. It was funny that even though he was younger than the rest of us he had more expierence with good underground music and had a better ideas for things. When he started playing with us is when we went from playing simple power chord punk to actually having some originality and he brought his style in which definitely changed our sound for the better. He was also a better vocalist than Wess and Wess was always kinda threatened by it though we all didn't care we were more about being friends and hanging out than worried about whether or not we sounded good. Thats probably why we never went anywhere, but we had alot of fun and to Matt, Brandon, Chad, and me, that's what it was all about.

P.S. Seeing Rachel all grown up in that picture reminds me of a funny story. Matt was very protective of her I remember one night we were all hangin out somewhere and we had just seen Rachel. Brandon made a comment that Rachel was going to grow up to be a very beautiful woman (which she has). Brandon meant nothing perverse by it but Matt took it the wrong way and the more he drank the more pissed he got. Eventually they duked it out then made up wth crys and hugs. I just stayed out of it but I found it funny cause afterwards we started teasing Brandon about his hot mom. I just had to share that because no one out here knew Matt that well and when you think about the way he was it was much more funny. He was always very protective over anyone he cared about. I mean he would scrap with his friends in a heart beat but if anyone messed with his friends or loved ones look out. later Turtle

Practicing music at the Lodge

A few more pics of us practicing music at the Lodge the night before Matt's funeral service. You can see Matt's ashes on the hearth behind Aunt Jeanne. We had four guitar players: Tim, Eric, Mary Ellen, and Richard. Good times.

More photos from Matt's funeral

Conway clan
Originally uploaded by ppfalcon.

Aunt Nancy sent us these photos from the service in Colorado, which is great because I hardly took any myself, and I'm really sorry I didn't take more. Rachel says she might have a few on a disposable camera lying around somewhere; I'll just post anything people send to us. As a culture we put so much effort and expense into photographing weddings; maybe we should consider photographing other important ceremonies too. It gives you kind of an unbalanced view of life to just memorialize the good times. But then, this was a good time, just very sad.


Rachel and Mike with Matt's picture.


Rob & Lygie with Georgia.


Friends from Canyon City.


More friends and family.


Robert and Faith.


Richard, Mary Ellen, Tim.


Georgia and Robert.

Willey cousin photos

Wounded Warriors
Originally uploaded by ppfalcon.

Here are some photos of Matt and his Willey cousins, Rob, Allan, Eric, Edith, and Ben. Matt was particularly close to his three oldest cousins because we all lived together for a few years in North Carolina. Rob and Matt used to come up with crazy schemes and get Allan to be the guineau pig, like the time they wanted to fly off the top of the backyard swing set (the Icarus experiment, as I like to think of it). They built lots of forts, dug holes all over the yard, made a path around the house with their bikes, listened to bedtime stories every night (Narnia, Lloyd Alexander) and had lots of creative play.

Uncle Bob the Kiddie's Pal

Here's Uncle Bob with Matt and Rachel in 1988, during a family vacation to Emerald Isle, North Carolina. I love the colors in this picture, plus it was a happy family gathering. Matt totally loved the beach, but I think this may have been the last time he went there.

More happy baby pictures

Matt in the Hot Tub
Originally uploaded by ppfalcon.

Here's Matt in the hot tub at Boops and Pepys' house in Hotchkiss. Matt's Aunt Jane sent these pics. Some are a little worse for wear, but they still document what a happy baby Matt was.