Brandon Goddard Tributes, Condolences & Bereavement

"Most Influential Person"essay for admit to A&M / Trevor Williams (best friend )
My life changed on August 12th, 2006, two days into my junior year of high school. That’s the day my best friend Brandon Goddard passed away unexpectedly from a viral infection causing complications to his Type 1 Diabetes, a disease about which he never complained though he struggled with it for twelve years. To know Brandon was to know happiness. He was the kind of person that everyone wanted to be around because of his cheerful disposition. In the seventeen short years Brandon was here, he taught me how to live life to the fullest.
Many people just eke out an existence, but don’t truly live. The living Brandon did was meaningful; he lived to serve others. In fact, Brandon frequently went out of his way to lend a hand to people he didn’t even know. Whether it was rebuilding a house on a mission trip or rolling down his car window to tell a neighbor hello, he never missed an opportunity to make someone smile. Brandon never put himself before others, and was the happiest kid on the planet. He found joy in helping others, and that rubbed off on me. One of the most vivid memories I have as an example of his selflessness was on a weekend church mission trip called “Faith In Action” in which we would help the less fortunate by doing simple home restorations that they could not afford or do themselves. Brandon and I worked in a group whose project was to build a wheelchair ramp for our client, Mrs. Jones. She was an elderly woman who lived alone in a very old, decrepit house. She seemed very glad to see us when we arrived because she hadn’t had any company in quite some time. While working outside, I noticed that Brandon had disappeared. I peaked through the window and saw him visiting with the little old lady on her couch - he had her smiling from ear to ear. At that moment it seemed that Brandon was doing more for Mrs. Jones than any of the rest of us. I am sure that the ramp we built was valued, but I know now what Brandon knew instinctively: what she cherished most was his genuine companionship for those few hours.
Brandon’s love for others was an amazing thing to witness, but it was something completely different to experience it personally. We were always together because we had so many common interests. The two of us played trumpet in the marching band, attended the same church, formed a garage band, and went water and snow skiing every chance we could. Always encouraging me to be my best, he was truly proud of my success even if we found ourselves in direct competition. Brandon was an amazing friend because he knew how to raise my spirits, and could always be trusted.
Brandon has altered my view about what it means to lead a productive, meaningful life. At his funeral, hundreds of people mourned him and shared eulogies of how he was a shining light in this world with his ability to create occasions for laughter. Accepting Brandon’s death is very hard, but I have discovered that spreading love as he once did enables me to keep him in my heart, and keep his spirit alive within me. In an effort to ensure that he will always be remembered, our church praise band recorded and sold a CD of the song that we played at his funeral to raise money to establish a perpetual memorial scholarship fund in his name. We met our goal of $10,000 in 3 months! Losing my best friend taught me how important it is to tell the people close to you how much you love them, because you never know how long you will be fortunate enough to have them. Most importantly, I learned that life is not about the accumulation of wealth or the collection of material things, because those can easily fade away. Life is about cultivating quality relationships and making a positive impact on the lives of others with the simple gifts of love and service.