Matt

I never thought I’d have to say good-bye to a classmate so soon. My friend, Matthew Dunn, passed the Bar before any of us. He passed from time into eternity to stand before the only Judge who really matters. As the angels sing to welcome him, we grieve our loss and stand in support of his family. He was such an easy-going guy who loved to laugh and entertain us with great stories.

Since I always like to talk about controversial issues like racism, classicism and sexism, last semester Matt engaged me in an interesting conversation about how he came to an understanding of racial issues. I had made certain assumptions about him because he grew up in Georgia. My opinion got even more skeptical when he told me he had a nanny who was a black woman. But the cool thing was that he told me he didn’t see his nanny as different. He said he knew her skin was darker than his, but it never occurred to him that the difference in their skin color meant anything.

In school, he made friends with everyone regardless of color. I asked him about the school cafeteria thing where you have the white table, the black table and the Hispanic table. He said that he sat at every table because he had friends at every table. He found out in subtle ways that everyone didn’t agree with how he embraced all people. He began reading history books about racism in America and only then did he realize why his outlook was unconventional.
Nevertheless, he continued the trend when he went into the military, and he said he was always the only one who sat at every table. I told him how great it was that he was a person who could remind us that our differences should not separate us. Matt’s wonderful spirit transcended the differences. Now he can sit at one Table where everyone is united.

I’ll always remember Matt.