✨ Carrying Craig’s Light: A Celebration of a Life Well Lived 🤍
I flew to Naples, Florida on October 25th for a reason nobody ever wants to have on their calendar — my Uncle Craig’s celebration of life. It was held at Bear’s Paw Country Club, and let me tell you… for something born out of heartbreak, it was one of the most beautiful, love-filled celebrations I’ve ever witnessed. 💛
My cousins — Eliza, Christina, and Kevin — pulled off an absolute masterpiece. They handled every detail so my Aunt Elaine didn’t have to lift a finger. They made sure the day reflected who Craig truly was: big-hearted, steady, hilarious when you least expected it, and somehow both larger-than-life and quietly grounding at the same time.
If you know me, you know I’m a memory hoarder. I document everything. So of course I recorded the speeches… or at least I thought I did. When it came time for Eric — Christina’s husband — to speak, I had one job. One. And guess who pressed “capture” instead of “record”? Yep. This girl. Nothing like realizing you took a lovely still photo of a man mid-speech while completely missing the speech itself. 😅
But in true Eric fashion, he didn’t even blink. He graciously rerecorded his entire speech (probably sprawled on the floor somewhere, because that’s how life works), and I edited it right into the final video along with additional photos. Honestly, it ended up being perfect. A little patched-together, a little improvised, a lot heartfelt — exactly how family stories tend to unfold.
I loved my Uncle Craig. Truly. Writing that sentence feels both too small and too heavy at the same time. There are so many words I could use to describe him… kind, steady, loyal, funny, protective, gentle, wise. But if you listen to the video — really listen — you’ll understand him better than any paragraph I could write here. The people who spoke about him captured who he was in a way that felt like a warm hand on your shoulder and a punch to the gut all at once.
He was dad, Roppop, Craig, and to me… he was Uncle Craig.
You are loved.
You are missed.
And your legacy — the way you shaped your family, your friends, and the quiet corners of the world around you — will live on long after the last toast was made that day in Naples.
Some people leave a hole when they go. Craig left a light. And we’ll keep carrying it. ✨
