Christian Couto

I don’t even know where to start. I loved Christian and it was obvious to everyone that knew us. He’s my best friend, and no one will ever be able to take his place. I have memorized the sound of his voice, and the way he ran out of breath when he was laughing with his whole body. His laugh is a great sound, Something I’ll truly never stop hearing on. Repeat in my mind. He was the most annoying, loving person I have ever met. Christian was frustrating. It painted me that not everyone knew him like I did. Only the people closest to him knew him like I did, the soft and mushy Christian , that we all love so much. I used to get mad that people did not understand our relationship. The confusion as to where we stood as friends something often perceived as something more. Because it was. Christian was always going to be in my life. We all often joked that he was going to be my husband one day and honestly I started to believe it myself. Regardless, he was going to be the uncle to my children, the one that taught them to swear too soon, and knew what stories to tell them to embarrass their mother. I know he is looking out for me and ready to fight off any man not worth my time. ( He was always good at that). I will cherish each and every Laugh, smile, argument, name-calling, and heartfelt moment we shared. We were all blessed to have his heart in our lives. Our friendship was complicated and even messy at times, we were not perfect. We fought and cried and argued. But it made us stronger and it was all out of love. He will forever be my big brother and guardian, Angel. Love always, Jules.

My birthday, and Christians are three days apart, and while I always rubbed in how I was older than him, he got the last laugh when he got to get his license date weeks before me. When he got his license, that first day, he drove to my house all the way in Somerset, just to rub it in a little more. we sat in his car in my driveway, listening to music and talking. It was such a fun time I even let him brag about it! He may have gotten his license before me, but I will always have those three days on him. My brother, a freshman , when we were seniors, looked up to Christian as a role model, and a big brother. I would always yell at Christian to stop buying my little brother, Subway and Chick-fil-A after school before basketball practice! He would just laugh and tell me” He’s my son, that’s what I do.” While I sometimes wondered if the boys came over my house to really see me, or just my little brother, I loved watching the relationship. My best friend had made with my sibling. His Endless hugs, Loud laugh, his inability to stay awake during marketing class, and his sunshine personality are just a few of the things that make Christian, Christian. The memories never fade.” It wasn’t long enough, but it was long enough to last forever” With Love, Vanessa

Christian was truly one of the best human beings I have ever met. His smile it up every room he walked in. He was the life of the party. Every party or small fire I had Christian always was there. There has never been a dull moment that I’ve had with Christian . I always loved how passionate he was about making sure everyone he cared for was happy. He helped me through a lot and would always give me the reassurance I needed whenever I was sad. He always offered to come pick me up and go for a drive or go to get food. He would always say I just want you to be happy so I can have my crazy best friend Vanessa back. He was a friend I could always, no matter what count on, which is so rare to find. He was the most selfless Person I’ve met when it came to helping other people before himself. He always knew how to make me feel better when no one else could. Our towns will always have that void in our hearts that will never be the same. His memory will always live on, and I will always be forever. Grateful to have been able to call him a best friend. I miss you so much, Christian, and will always hold you in my heart. With Love, Vanessa Nightingale

Christian has been there for me as long as I could remember. He was one of my first friends and always one of my best friends. There was never anything bad to say about him and he always had a smile on his face. He has been there for me whenever I needed him and I am glad to say I’ve always been there for him. We weren’t together a lot, but we would always be a big part of each other‘s lives. If I ever needed anything, I knew I could go to Christian . He’d always be there for me no matter what. Some of the good memories I have with Christian are so small and stupid but those are the best ones. If I were to tell you them, you wouldn’t even think they were funny, but we’d always think they were hilarious. I think one of my best memories of him was recently. When I was at basic training and I called him on Thanksgiving. He had a huge smile on his face, and it was just so nice to talk to him because I haven’t seen him for so long. He will always be my brother. With love, Josh.

We truly just had a friendship that was always So stable and I knew I could always count on it. There wasn’t a day that went by that I have ever doubted that, and he is one of my only close friends that I never really fought with ever. We always were just kind of in sync. We understood each other in a way that other people never could understand us. I accepted him for who he was, and he always did the same for me. It’s like we have some type of way with each other where we knew we could lay it all out and not be judged by one another, And that’s what we did. He always had my back, and I knew I could always count on him. I know we can’t talk anymore, but he is now watching over me in a different way. With Love, Cara