Today, we gather to honor and remember my beloved son, Jeremiah John Davis, my first born son, of 6, who left us far too soon.

Jermiahs life, though brief, was a gift from God filled with Love and Joy for his wife Jennifer, his extended family and all who knew him.

Despite the profound depression that tormented him, a darkness likened to a bird trapped in a garage, he touched countless souls with his kindness and spirit.

I am heartbroken, yet so proud of the man he had become and I find solace in the memories he left with us.

Depression is a silent epidemic among us which stole him from us, but it cannot erase the light he brought into our lives.

I urge all of us to talk openly about the battle he fought within himself, to support one another and to seek help when needed. Please call the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7.

As his father, I pray that Jemiahs memory endures with happiness, as he wished in the poem “Afterglow”, an echo of laughter and light to outlast our tears. May we hold onto that light and may his soul find peace with God.

With all my Love, I say goodbye, but never farewell to my son.

With all my love,

JW Davis

‘Afterglow’

I’d like the memory of me to be a happy one.

I’d like to leave an afterglow of smiles when life is done.

I’d like to leave an echo whispering softly down the ways,

Of happy times and laughing times and bright and sunny days.

I’d like the tears of those who grieve, to dry before the Son;

Of happy memories that I leave when life is finally done.