Daniel - October 4, 2009

This is the only speech I have ever made regarding either of my brothers. In fact, I always imagined that my first speech to them would be one filled with embarrassing stories and told on their wedding day. Instead, I find myself wishing that Joseph were here to hear the things I have to say about him.
Sea turtles in Hawaii, blizzards on the Matterhorn, bears in Alaska, and Kilimanjaro, the roof of Africa represent just a small fragment of what Joseph got to see in his life. Even though his life was tragically cut short, he experienced more then the vast majority of people ever will. His life was lived to the fullest till the very last moment. Still, he never took these fantastic experiences for granted. He never took anything for granted. Joseph knew how great his family and friends are, he knew that most people couldn’t even imagine the opportunities and support that he was given. I think that Peace Corps was his way of giving back to the world that had been so good to him.
I don’t really want to talk for that long, but I did want to share something that I think sums Joseph up as a person. Joe always went 100%, and, I’ll be the first to admit that he worked harder than me at most things. Swimming is an exceptional example of this. Joe would wake up at 4:30 in the morning and practice for 2 hours THEN hop back into the pool in the afternoon for another 2 hours after going to school all day. To top that off, he would always be the leader of his lane and push himself harder than most. On the other hand, I would occasionally swim in the morning, but more often opt for the extra sleep. Then in the afternoon I would unwillingly attend practice where I was always in the back of the lane goofing off. However, in spite of all his effort and my complete lack of focus, I would somehow always destroy Joseph when it came to race-time. Being a competitive family in some regards, I never let him forget this. However, he never gave up or stopped training. He worked hard and I watched as his hard work paid off with his 4 years of Varsity swimming at Amherst. He even eventually beat my times, although that was long after I had stopped swimming. Joe put his heart into everything he did, and swimming is only one example of this.
He was not a stereotypical big brother in many respects, and recently I talked with Uncle Frank about how I blazed my own path most of the time, which is a reflection of the differences in our personalities. However, I do look up to him as a big brother, I aspire to be as good a person as he was and to work as hard as he did at everything that I am passionate about. I know that I will miss Joe everyday of my life. Yet, when I think back on the memories we shared, I do not feel sad, instead, a smile often stretches across my face or a laugh escapes my lips. I am proud to have been able to call him my brother.