Dear Eli,

Hey man.
I listened to Counterparts today and thought of you immediately. You were the only one who I knew that loved Counterparts as much as me. YOU EVEN SAW THEM IN AUSTIN, when I've only seen them at SXSW. Anyway, the song was "Soil". The lyrics are (you already know them but for the people who want to read my letter):

Tragedy is all we have in common
And at times we allow it to swallow us whole
Drawing the marrow from our misfortunes
To ignite the fire that's inside
Inhale the smoke from the burn that leaves you breathless
Breathing life into the lifeless
Dragging them into the sun and exposing them as apparitions

Is there dignity in living life as an entity?
"You could have made history, but we are already forgetting about you."
Humanity is poison
And we are lost without a cure
So stop your heart and start the healing process

I am not fit to walk among you
But I don't want to end my life
Just know that if I knew of any common ground
I'd leave here now
And I would find a home that I could die in
Just to say I tried to rest in peace

Erase me from your memory
The ones we love will let us down
And the rats will feed off of our failure
Eventually, this is something we must accept

The world moves on without us
We leave only footprints that fade away in time
Walk with fire and save yourself from vagrancy
We leave our spirits to retrace our steps

You are your memorial
Find your mark and make it
The soil is the last thing we ingest
We watch our ashes scatter
You are your own memorial
Find your mark and make it

The thing is, you won't be forgotten. You've "made your mark". You basically taught me how to be kind to others. You were so kind and loving to everyone. You didn't even know what hate was. You put a smile on everyone's face. I'm actually still in shock that you're gone. It doesn't make any sense to me.
I dunno, I think about you often, your picture is on my bulletin board. I think about how many people's lives you impacted. You knew I was an atheist and you respected that; I love you for that. You made my friend the happiest I have ever seen her, and now I'm at college and I can't help her. Every time I play uke, I think about you and how you would one up me whenever I brought it to school. I learned that song by the way, though I can't sing it well, I bet your girl can for me. The times we did hang out, you were always cracking me and everyone around us up. You were also a dare devil. You never turned down a dare and weren't afraid of anything. I still crack up about the time you hardcore danced at that dance party on our band trip to South Padre Island, or when you freaked me out when you were going down the big hill on the penny board at Haley Nelson.
I worry about your close ones, but since they believe in God, they're fine I guess. We weren't as close, and the last time we've talked was about the time you saw Counterparts and you were wearing a Hundredth shirt. I hope you're having a helluva good time in the afterlife, whatever afterlife it is. I miss you. R.I.P. my dear.

http://mahllie.tumblr.com/post/95335341079/mahllie-r-i-p-eli-i-cant-believe-this-i