Matthew Henry Johnson

Life doesn't prepare us for this kind of hurt. For this kind of pain. Instead, life allows us to meet people, know people, and love people who make the pain worth it.

To know Matt was to know joy. Strength. He wasn't weighed down by much of what weighs down the rest of us. He experienced so much in his time with us. Things that would break a lesser man. Nothing broke him. He was our big man.

To the nurses and doctors who cared for him, you know his joy and witnessed his strength. He greeted you with love, no matter what. We thank the many, many professionals who worked with Matt and us so that we could have every moment possible with our man.

To our family, friends, and colleagues, simply, thank you. Thank you for checking in. Thank you for supporting us this week and for all the weeks and months and years prior. Matt never met a stranger and I know he touched many more people than we'll ever know.

To his big sister, Abigail, the love and gentleness you showed your brother was beautiful to witness. We are so proud of your own strength and understanding. You will always be a big sister. We will always be a family.

We can focus on the unfairness of all of this and the pain of this loss. But that wasn't Matt's style. We are choosing to make the man proud. To encourage all of us to emulate his strength and his joy. To hold another person's face and look at it with love and wonder.

”Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt" is a quote from Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, the work he wrote to try and make sense of the non-sensical nature of war. For Matt it felt like he was always fighting a battle. He fought so hard and for so long. We are so proud of him. He doesn't have to fight anymore. He doesn't have to feel pain anymore. We know everything is beautiful for him now because he made everything beautiful.

Matthew is survived by his loving parents, Eric and Jessica Johnson of Wesley Chapel, FL, his big sister Abigail, paternal grandparents Aaron and Danye Johnson of Wildwood, FL; maternal grandparents Kenneth and Donna Stothfang of West Chester, OH; Aunts and Uncles, Heather Johnson of Wildwood, FL; Elizabeth and Nicklas Herrin of Virginia Beach, VA and Alexander and Rachael Stothfang of Cincinnati, OH. He is also survived by his cousins Robert and Andrew Herrin of Virginia Beach, VA and Ana Stothfang of Cincinnati, OH.

A visitation for Matt will take place this Thursday, January 19th at the Blount & Curry Carrollwood Chapel, 3207 W Bearss Avenue, Tampa, FL 33618 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. http://www.dignitymemorial.com/blount-curry-carrollwood/en-us/directions.page.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Matthew's name to the St. Joseph's Children's Hospital Foundation, 2700 W Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Suite 310, Tampa, FL 33607 or by visiting www.give2stjoeskids.org. All donations will directly benefit the St. Joseph’s Hospital Chronic-Complex Clinic. The Chronic-Complex Clinic specializes in the care for children with special needs and offered tireless support to Matt and our family throughout his courageous fight.