A few weeks ago I walked into Religion class and Roman had his vocab cards sitting on his desk waiting to be checked by the teacher. As soon as i saw i said “Roman wait we have vocab cards do” and he replied with “yeah boi you didn’t know??” So after Mrs.Hebert checked his, he hurry up and slid them to me and still to this day I still have them.

The Holy Spirit had me preparing to come to St. Augustine for our National Fraternus Pilgrimage when I got a call from Mitch Pitre. I could hear the pain in his voice when he shared the passing of Roman, however there was something was very different in his voice as well. Mitch immediately shared with me Roman’s journey, his challenges, but more importantly how Roman met and handled those challenges. Roman is Christ's worrior in life and in death! My heart sank and then the Holy Spirit poured into me from Roman’s life, through Mitch over the coming days…

…As I got older in life, I was looking for an earthly sign from GOD in my humanly weakness to see, to feel, to touch. Thursday I received it in my heart as I am sure many of you did also. ROMAN has reminded me of God saying, “THOMAS, BECAUSE THOU HAS SEEN ME, THOU HAS BELIEVED. BLESSED ARE THEY THAT HAVE NOT SEEN, AND YET HAVE BELIEVED.” ROMAN and I have a request of you today. The last thing Roman did daily was to say 2 Hail Mary’s; many of his family members have begun doing it. ROMAN and I ask you to begin doing it nightly. A couple of minutes nightly, throw him the ball and give him the opportunity to score with it . Love PA PE and God bless.

…I told so many, young and old, the message that kept coming to me at Roman’s funeral. God has picked you to be on Roman's "team." We are on a vast playfield and many are watching from the "bleachers and stands." Those in the stands that were invited to "play" and declined will be prayed for, and so many others will watch in awe as to the character of this "game" but it's not a game, it's life and God is the coach. At our baptism we are given the uniform and gear we need but along the way many of us misplace and lose that gear. Roman ALWAYS had his gear….

From the first time I’ve met Roman , I’ve never had another experience with him that didn’t make me laugh. He had a joke for everything. He had nicknames for almost everyone. Although , he didn’t have a nickname for me , he would pronounce my name as “Jail Lyn” and I always thought that was cute…

Roman asked “Maddie can your mom bring me home today?” of course I said yes. When we got to his house he thanked her about 1000 times and I’m not even exaggerating. He texted me when we dropped him off “please tell her thank you again. “ In english class “Maddie can you please write this essay for me I’ll give you candy” yes roman anything for candy…

…Every night when the sun goes down, I think about how every angel in heaven paints a beautiful painting in the sky to show how much they love and care for us. Ever since Roman arrived to his eternal home, our handcrafted painting has become more and more beautiful every day.

you departing from this world has made me realize how grateful i am to say that i had the once in a lifetime chance to live among an angel. i always had this gut feeling in the depths of my soul that you were someone that was too good to stay here. you have truly made a significant mark on me that i will never be the same…

To know Roman was to love him instantly. He was full of so much joy and light. He was a pure heart like none I’ve ever known. He had not one tainted or malicious bone in him. Roman was goodness personified. He embodied Christ in EVERY way possible. He loved deeply and loved hard. He prayed daily and did so even for those who hurt him. He had a spiritual maturity beyond his years…