30 Days of Remembrance: Mark

Mark Jack is my son. He passed on Easter Sunday, two days after his 26th birthday. He died of an overdose eight years into his disease. Mark was full of smiles from the day he was born. He lit up a room and always wanted to leave people laughing. He was unbelievably smart, probably too smart for his own good. He loved playing and watching football. When he was young, his uncle Dennis would play football with him. As he got older, he played for his high school team. Mark had a lot of friends. Growing up, he spent a lot of time at his grandparents' house and hanging out with his best friend Tony.

Mark was named after his dad. He had two steps sisters, Maria and Deanna, who he loved as if they were his biological sisters. They were his and he was theirs. Another big part of his life was Dalton, who Mark basically adopted as his brother, and they were inseparable.

Mark was my only son, my only child. He was my world, my everything for his entire life. Mark considered his tribe, his family. That’s what we called the people in our circle. The people we knew we could depend on the people who loved us unconditionally. To him it wasn’t about birth or blood. It was about respect and the love you shared with them.

Mark loved football, basketball, and the beach. He loved the water, and we would spend a lot of time at the beach talking and skipping rocks. Mark was funny and very smart. He always wanted to make people laugh. He was kind, fair, funny, charming, loving and respectful. I think Mark would want to tell others to be who you are because "Those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind". And "To the world you may be one person but to one person, you may be the world." You never have to be better than anyone just try to be better than you were yesterday.

~ Tricia Costantino, Mark's Momma