Dear Denon August 12th 2020

Dear Denon,

On your birthday, I decided I'd write you a letter.  I know you've been gone for three years, but the pain of your loss is still quite strong.

While it aches my heart that you're no longer with us, you've definitely had an impact on everyone that your life has touched.  From your favorite cousin that lives in Colorado, to just about everyone else that is connected to you on Facebook and elsewhere.  I smile knowing that your time with us made our lives that much more fun & full of love!

From time to time, I'll look at pictures of us together, some from when we were kids going to the same school together which was a rare occurrence in our family, as you know, to more recent pictures including the one from your 30th birthday 10 years ago.  One of my favorites has always been when during your oldest daughter Morgan's 5th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's, we both hopped into that little mechanical kiddie truck, redneck-ing it!  

Another favorite photo is when, during Morgan's 8th birthday, you decided to try to sit on my lap.  That was a fun picture to take, among many others.

When I think of all of the things I'm grateful for, the one thing I'm truly grateful for is that I had you for a cousin, but more than that, you were the sister that I never got to have in this world.  Because of that special relationship, you were also many times my closest confidant.  I could talk to you about almost anything.  While we didn't always agree on certain topics, the love was always there.

I'm also truly grateful, as well as being highly blessed, that as a result of my relationship with you, through you I had the distinct honor of meeting your two beautiful girls, Morgan & Bailey.  Morgan, who never liked leaving my side, not even for a moment.  And Bailey who just wanted to crawl all over me.  

Because of you, they are now a huge part of my life.  I can't begin to fathom how much my life would be different had I not met them, and loved by them.  I'm especially honored by the nickname that Bailey gave me, "Feffy"!  It has become a treasured memory from our trip to Springfield, Missouri to Krystel's wedding in July 2007.

Some of the most cherished keepsakes of mine are the pictures I have of myself, and those two beautiful daughters of yours.  I wish I had more of them, but the ones I do have are my favorites.  And of course, the pictures of you and I together as well.  

I miss you!  I love you so much!  And I'm truly happy that because of you, your daughters Morgan & Bailey are now part of my life too!  I couldn't ask for better nieces!  I just wish you were still here, watching them become intelligent, strong, & gorgeous young women.  

I wish you were still with us so I could show you my prosthetic eye.  It's not perfect, but at least it's a step up from that original eye that caused me so much gawd-awful pain.  I think you'd be impressed with how much it looks like my good eye.  As you know, having the appearance of two normal eyes has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember.  

Happy posthumous 40th birthday, Denon!  I love you & miss you always!

Sincerely,

-Jeffrey R. Kuntzelman 2020

Your "Feffy"!

"Your bark is only as good as your bite. BITE HARD!" ~JRK 2004