Inspiring Facebook Post Helps Family Heal After Son Is Killed By Drunk Driver
The family of a man killed by an alleged drunk driver on New Year’s Eve is finding comfort in his final Facebook post, which is going viral in the wake of his death.
Matthew DeRemer, a former Marine, was killed on Thursday in Florida when an impaired driver hit his motorcycle. Earlier that evening, the decorated Iraq war veteran posted on Facebook about the previous year’s challenges and what he anticipated for the year to come. “Last day of 2015!!!! For me I’ll be meditating through all I do, on this entire year,” DeRemer wrote. “I’ve lost, I’ve gained, family is closer and tougher than ever before, loved ones lost, and new friends found. There have been many times where I’ve been found on my knees in prayer for hours (relentless) and other times leading a group of people in prayer, my faith (that I love to share) is an everyday awakening (to me) that people, lives, and circumstances can change for the better OVER TIME. I look back at 2015’s huge challenges that I’ve overcome, shared with others, and have once again found myself … To say thank you and BRING ON 2016, much [work] to be done! And I really don’t know where I’ll end up tonight but I do know where I windup is where I’m meant to be.”
STORY: Mom’s Stunning Recovery at Site Where Her Son Died 8 Months Ago
The post has since received more than 61,000 likes and been shared more than 21,400 times.
From 2006 to 2010, DeRemer worked as a motor vehicle operator in the Marine Corps, where he won seven awards, including medals for Global War on Terrorism service and Combat Action, according to Time. He had recently been hired as a surgical technician.
DeRemer’s mother, Julie, told Time that her son’s message is helping her cope with tragedy. “It helps us heal,” she said. “He believed all those words. These are the pieces of him that he’s left behind. He touched everyone. He was an inspiration.”
STORY: Teen Dies After Parents’ ‘Lesson About Drinking’
Like many veterans, DeRemer was not without struggles. “When he was in Iraq, it was one of the hardest things to deal with. Those demons followed him,” Line Lorenzen, a friend of DeRemer’s, told Time. “We talked about everything he had to go through. There are a lot of things to deal with when you’re a Marine. There’s a lot of death around you, and those things never go away.”
But DeRemer was approaching the coming year with hope and optimism, according to friends and family. “That’s how he pulled through,” Julie said.
Lorenzen has created a GoFundMe page to help DeRemer’s family cover funeral costs. “With your kind help we will make a huge difference supporting a man that was so loved and loved everyone around him,” Lorenzen wrote on the page. “Everywhere he went he touched people with his spirit and faith … He will forever be remembered as a faithful, funny, smiling, gibberish talking, trusting and loving amazing guy.”
Top photo: Facebook/Matthew DeRemer
Please follow @YahooParenting on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Have an interesting story to share about your family? Email us at YParenting (at) Yahoo.com.
