Zachary James Gifford (1986-2012)

This is the last family picture we will have with everyone in it. My younger brother, Zach, passed away last Monday, the 16th. Our family has felt so grateful and humbled by the outpouring of love and support from visitors, prayers, phone calls, emails, texts, and food from so many. It has given us the strength and comfort to get through the last week and a half. I am grateful for Zach and the role he has played in my life the last 23 years. I am thankful for the things I learned from the experiences he and I have shared. I will never forget his kind heart and sweet temperament. I know that he is now in a place where he has the opportunity to realize and reach his full potential that so many of us saw in him.


This situation has filled me with kindness, calmness, and a deeper love for everyone. I feel like little things don't bother me anymore and my perspective on life has changed. I feel like the only thing that really matters is family. I'm grateful to have such a large one with so many different personalities. I have learned so much from this group of people.


Here is a poem and a quote I read when I spoke at Zach's funeral:

What Is This Thing That Men Call Death?

What is this thing that men call death?
This quiet passing in the night?
‘Tis not the end but genesis
Of better worlds and greater light

O God, touch Thou my aching heart
And calm my troubled, haunting fears
Let hope and faith, transcendent, pure
Give strength and peace beyond my tears.

There is no death, but only change
With recompense for vict’ry won
The gift of Him who loved all men
The Son of God, the Holy One.

Gordon B. Hinckley: What a wonderful thing is death, really, when all is said and done. It is the great reliever. It is a majestic, quiet passing on from this life to another life, a better life. I'm satisfied of that. We go to a place where we will not suffer as we have suffered here, but where we will continue to grow, accumulating knowledge and developing and being useful under the plan of the Almighty made possible through the Atonement of the Son of God.