HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT

Born September 1, 1985
9:48 p.m.
8 lbs. 10 1/2 ozs.
21 inches long

Matt is having a birthday. He is the sweetest person I know. He's always been sweet. I remember how excited he used to get at Christmas. Mother (Nana) would have all the Christmas presents piled in sections in the living room. Matt, Josh, Chris, Brent and Shane would go to their section, count the gifts to make sure they all had the same amount, and then after the countdown they would start opening as though the presents were on fire. Matt was especially proud of a baseball bat. He kept jumping up and down and we were all laughing. I believe it was always Uncle John who kept giving him underwear.

I also recall he went through a Tommy Hilfiger phase. I can remember being at Dillards buying Tommy Hilfiger socks and underwear. He had to wear everything Tommy Hilfilger.

One year he just could not make up his mind who his favorite basketball player was. Since I taught at the University of Arkansas, in his mind, I was the ONLY person in the whole world who could buy him anything Razorback. He wanted a basketball uniform. One week he wanted Todd Day's name and number on it, then the next week it was Lee Mayberry. It was getting to be a week before his birthday (or maybe it was Christmas) and I was running out of time to get the player's name and number put on the uniform. Matt was so young so I just had Todd Day's name and number put on one side of the uniform and I had Lee Mayberry's name and number put on the other side. Then, whoever he wanted to be, he could just have that player's name on the front. It worked...he was so pleased.

We are such a close family and family is everything. Once Sancy and her family and my family went to Angel Fire snow skiing. Matt was very, very young. When he took skiing lessons he was taught without using a pole. That's the way young children are taught to ski. Matt could not stand skiing with the "little" folks so he broke rank and started skiing with Brent, Shane, Josh and Chris. We were so worried about him but he was able to ski with the best of them. There was no fear. We all decided to ski at Taos one day. Well, if you've never been to Taos it's mainly moguls. Black moguls. There they were, all in a line skiing, Brent, Shane, Josh, Chris and Matt. Matt looked like a little speck on the mountain. Gary, Johnny, Sancy and I just stayed on the mountainside watching the boys ski and looking at Johnny's x-rays. Yes, he hurt his knee skiing and had to go to the emergency room. When Matt came in for a break he asked his mom what she was drinking. She said "Irish coffee." He replied, "Why aren't you drinking American coffee?"

He was always the baby so he was so spoiled. We all spoiled him. Who knew at that age what an impact he would later on in life have on people. If you google "Matt Courson" you will find numerous stories about him and every single one talks about Matt Courson as a person. One article even said "You don't have to even meet him in person to know what a great person he is."

He has given us so much joy, that's true. He knows how to turn on the charm and charms everyone he meets.

SLIDESHOW OF SOME PICTURES OF MATT. YOU CAN CLICK ON A PICTURE TO MAKE IT LARGER. IF YOU DO, JUST MAKE SURE YOU GO BACK TO THE FIRST PICTURE OR YOU WILL MISS SEEING MOST OF THE PICTURES.

I LOVE YOU MATT.