Eli was an amazing boy who touched the lives of all of those who knew him. The bravery he displayed is an inspiration to us all.
I would like to invite everyone here to share their Eli story or stories with us. If you would like to share your stories please email them to me at bplinson@gmail.com and I will post them here. Please let me know in the email if you would like me to include your name or have it posted anoymously.
I will go first.
I never met Eli or Paul but one day Paul contacted me and asked if he could post information about his son on an Internet forum that I run. I immediatly said yes and created a post to introduce Eli to 40,000 other people. This forum thread can be found here – LINK . The thead started on Jan 20, 2008 and continues to be updated (free registration is required to read the entire forum thread). Through this thread Eli and Paul kept us all up-to-date with the progress Eli was making. Eli made friends with, and touched the lives, of thousands of people all over the world. We all looked forward to reading about and keeping up with Eli.
It was a great shock when the post about Eli’s passing was made. I was frozen and did not want to believe that it was true. With that one post a part of the lives of thousands of other members of the forum was taken away.
I never got to meet Eli but I know that I am a better person today for knowing him online. It is absolutely amazing how someone you never met can effect your emotions in such a deep way. Someday I hope to meet Paul, Ruth, and Austin and visit Eli’s resting place.
Eli Seth Matthews
