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A Boy’s Farewell

A young cancer patient hated sad goodbyes, so his

parents honored his final wishes with a life-affirming

obituary—followed by a bouncy-house funeral

I

n September 2017, four-year-old

Garrett Michael Matthias was di-

agnosed with a rare cancer. For ten

months, he endured brutal chemo-

therapy and radiation for embryonal

rhabdomyosarcoma, but he never lost

his sense of humor. People who said

goodbye to him with “See you later,

alligator” were often taken aback by

Garrett’s standard response: “See

ya later, suckas!” When his parents,

Ryan and Emilie Matthias, found out

he was terminal, they started writing

down his thoughts on life and death.

Garrett died on July 6, 2018. Five days

later, the Des Moines Register ran

the family’s unusual paid obituary,

which was written almost entirely in

Garrett’s own words and is featured

here. Garrett did have a Viking fu-

neral, complete with snow cones and

bouncy houses. His story has inspired

a children’s book called Dirty, Stupid,

Cancer!

By Makayla Tendall

from the des moines register

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LIFE WELL LIVED

24 may 2019 | rd.com