Dave’s wife Sylvia wrote this amazing poem to celebrate his life.

 I can’t make you come back, no matter how many times I close my eyes and wish for it. You’re gone and deep down, I know there’s nothing I can do to change that. But still, I miss you. I miss you endlessly, in ways that words will never be able to explain. Every day feels a little emptier without you around. It’s not just your voice or your presence that I miss, it’s the feeling of peace I used to have whenever you were near. I miss the way everything used to feel right when you were still here. Now, even the simplest moments feel different, colder somehow, like the world lost its warmth when you left.

Sometimes I catch myself looking back, replaying old memories in my mind, wishing I could go back to those days the laughter, the comfort, the silence that somehow still felt full because you were there. I wish I could have one more conversation, one more smile, one more moment to tell you how much you meant to me. But time doesn’t move backward, and all I have now are pieces of what used to be. It hurts to realize that missing you has become part of my everyday life. I wake up missing you, I go through my day missing you, and even when I try to sleep, my thoughts still find their way back to you.

You’re not here anymore, but somehow, your absence has become a presence that never leaves.

Maybe someday the pain will fade. Maybe someday the memories won’t hurt as much as they do now. But for now, I’ll just let myself feel it all the ache, the longing, the emptiness because that’s how much you meant to me. I can’t make you come back, but I can keep you alive in my heart. And that’s what I’ll keep doing, endlessly.