From the friends and family of Robert Guilfoil...

God's Way of Saying Everything is Okay

Have you ever experienced anything that has happened to you that wasn’t planned and it was God‘s way of telling you something? If I was asked this question before Roberts’ death, I would have said no. I have always believed in God and Jesus but the day after Robert’s death, I had several experiences that weren’t planned and it changed my life forever!

Robert and Me became really good friends in high school where we went to Northview High School together and we also played soccer together. I was on his dad’s team during the fall for the city and when spring came around we both played on our high school varsity soccer teams. One thing that we had in common during soccer for our high school was that we shared the number 18 on our Jerseys. But at the same time we would joke around at who played soccer better with that number. Robert and me were like brother and sister to each other and I really bonded with his family too. We would hang out a lot and when he graduated from Northview, I was there to see him graduate and when two years later came, I graduated from Northview and he came to my graduation and it surprised me because I wasn’t expecting to see him there cause him and his family had moved back up north. We have a lot of memories that will never be forgotten and will always stay with me!

On March 3, 2008 I got the worst news ever about a really good friend of mine. Robert W. Guilfoil passed away cause of a motorcycle accident. I could not get myself together after hearing about it and going to my classes that day. All I could do is just cry until I could not cry anymore. When I was sitting in my room before I had classes I went through my pictures that I have of Robert and me. I got one of the pictures and put it in my purse, that was the first step to help kind of deal with his death. As soon as I got off the phone with Michael is middle brother I just had a feeling telling me that I need to go to the funeral. I have never experienced a feeling like that before his death. I was able to go to his funeral even though it was my spring break, I didn’t care what I had to do to go. When I got there, I just hugged his mom trying not to cry. Later on that day after getting into Minnesota, I got a call from his dad asking me if I would read scripture at his funeral. I was shock at the time but very honor that they asked me to read. Of course I said yes cause I really cared for Robert and he would have wanted me to read or do anything at his funeral. On March 11, 2008 was his wake, which is also known as visitations. A couple of hours before his wake, I had my first experience that I had that shacked me. His youngest brother Chris had Roberts’ ipod and you can put pictures on it. Well Robert had about 4 or 5 pictures of me on his ipod which I wasn’t expecting to see. I was really shocked to find these pictures of me on there cause he had so many other friends that he could have put their pictures on his ipod. Robert and I were really good friends and after he moved away up north the only way we could communicate was by phone or by the internet. We both really cared for each other even though we could not see each other. At the wake, the pastor there asked if any one had anything that they wanted to say before he ended the wake. Well his younger brother went, a good friend o of his went, and then I went up there. I felt like I had to say something because of the fact that we had such a great relationship together and that when he lived in Dothan for the short time that he did, he had made a lot of good friends during his short time there. It was hard for me to go up there and talk cause I just wanted to cry the whole time while I was up there and I wanted to look at him the whole time too.

On March 12, 2008 was the saddest day for everyone. It was the last day that everyone could say good bye to Robert and it was the last time I would ever see him until my day came and I joined him up in Heaven. Well when the funeral started and it got time for me to read scripture, I could stop crying enough to read Revelations 21: 3-5. I could not stop crying through the whole funeral ceremony at the church and when it came time to go down to the cemetery saying good bye became much harder. When we got to the cemetery, some people that he worked with that were in the Air Force were there lined up and did not move any. The fired shots and then the trumpet played. Once all that began I started to cry hysterically cause I did not want this to be happening! These two guys that he worked with got the American Flag off of his casket and started to fold it. I noticed one of the men folding the flag was crying which made me feel even more sad cause military mean that fold a flag from a casket are not alowed to cry and when you saw that happening you know that Robert was a really good friend to everyone there! When the flag was folded and given to his parents, I looked down there and his mother had just broken down and started to cry and his father did the same thing. His mother, father, and two brothers were each given a yellow rose to lay on his casket. His youngest brother went first and got one of Roberts really good friends to go with him to lay the rose down, then his middle brother went and laid his rose down, after that was his mother’s turn and she looked at me and told me to go with her to lay down the rose, which was the hardest thing to do and made me start just breaking down, and then his father went last. I could not hold in my crying anymore and that was for a lot of people that were there. I just hugged his mother for the longest time and then started to hug his brothers and some of his friends that I had never met till I went up there for the funeral.

This last experience that I had encountered, I will never be able to explain why it happened and will never be able to cope with it without crying. When his parents found out where he was going to be buried, it was in section 18 at the cemetery. His mother came to me and told me and when she told me I just could not think straight! It made me just die inside in a way because things like that just don’t get planned, it just happens. This is Roberts way of telling me that our friendship was real and something special and that he will always cherish the number 18. But in Gods way he was telling me that Robert is with him and that he is watching over me and God was showing me that he himself was thinking about me.

After all this happened to me, I realized that I need to cherish everything in my life and tell all my friends how much they mean to me. I will never be the same person after all of this and I have opened up my eyes a whole lot more because God wants me to. Everyone needs to cherish everything that they have because it could be taken away from you at anytime. I hope that this story will open up their eyes to everything that is around them and just cherish it. I will never get Robert back and all I can do is wait til the day that I can see him again.