Angel Moreno

Louis "Angel" Moreno, age 19, passed away on Wednesday, October 4, 2017 in the North Cascades National Park, Washington. Angel was born to his loving parents Jose Moreno and Norma Orozco on January 20, 1998 in Renton, Washington. Angel will greatly be missed by all those who loved him. A Celebration of life will be held in Angel's honor on Friday, October 13, 2017 from 11:00am - 1:00pm at Greenwood Memorial park's Pagoda. A gathering will be held after for Angel's loved ones to share with each other, from 1:00pm -5:00 pm in Greenwood Memorial Park Hospitality room.

Funeral Director – Play Song 1 - Walking on a Dream

Welcome. My name is Caleb Klein and I’m honored to be the Funeral Celebrant today as we gather to celebrate the life and mourn the death of Luis Angel Moreno. We are here for his parents, Jose and Norma, his sister, Jennifer, and the rest of the extended family, in-cluding Angel’s grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and count-less friends he has made through the years. We stand in silent vigil with you as you walk your journey of grief and as you face the road without your beloved Angel by your side.

On behalf of the family, let me thank you for being here today. It is an important day when we stop to acknowledge the importance of a life and the ways he touched his world. Your presence means that Angel made a difference in your life and you took the time to stop and honor his special place on this earth.

Let us begin with a prayer.

Dear Father of broken hearts, we thank you for the life of Angel Moreno. He left us too soon but was always present during his life. We are grateful for the light that he was and the joy that he shared. We ask that you be a comforting presence to his family and his wealth of friends and that you will help them as they learn to con-tinue their ride through life without Angel. In your name we pray, Amen.

We will hear stories of his life, the music that he loved and You are the keepers of his legacy, his exuberant strength, his infectious laughter, his gigantic sense of fun, and his determination to experi-ence all that his world had to offer. Today is Angel’s day and we commemorate this time and space as hallowed and special as you bring your broken hearts together.

Light Candle

The light of the flame has always been symbolic to the human world; the eternal flame stands for the remembrance of those gone before; the light of a candle has come to represent rebirth and renewal. These two meanings are incorporated in the lighting of this candle. Let this light signify the ever-present love and memory of Angel which will always live on in our hearts. At the same time, let it sym-bolize the renewal we must seek as we continue life without Angel and strive to walk on with others. We all have holes in our lives be-cause Angel is gone, but we are thankful we can reach out and hold hands with each other, because in doing so we have found hope and healing in sharing this pain. Together, we share and divide our pain. As we have lit this candle in remembrance of Angel, we do so as those who care, who share, and who remember.

When someone so young is gone too soon and in such a tragic way, we all have to catch our breath, focus on the memories of what was, acknowledge what could have been, and find moments of gratitude for the time you had with him. Parents are not supposed to bury a child. We are here when they come into the world, but we do not plan to be here when they leave. The pain for Jose and Norma will be immense and one that cannot be put into words. A man who los-es a wife is called a widower, a woman who loses a husband is called a widow, and a child who loses a parent is called an orphan. But we have no word for a parent who loses a child – it is simply too big to capture and define. Norma will forever miss the sound of Angel whirling through the house, making noise, and leaving a path of de-struction behind him. Angel always made sure to tell her that he loved her, and would go out of his way to open the door to her bed-room in case she didn’t hear him say it. Jose and Norma gave their love endlessly to their children and will need you all during this dif-ficult journey. At this time, I ask Jose and Norma to each light a can-dle for the voids in their hearts that are left.

Jose lights Candle

Norma lights Candle

Jose and Norma had their first child Jennifer. She enjoyed all the joys of being an only child but she was never shy in telling her parents that she wanted a sibling. After ten years, Angel’s story began. It was on January 20, 1998 that Jose and Norma welcomed their second child, Angel into their family. Jenny enjoyed having a young-er brother, and was trusted to watch him from an early age. Jenny and her friend, Joelle got to spend a lot of time with Angel, whether they liked it or not. If he was upset with her, Angel would lock him-self into their parents bedroom and the bathroom. This taught the girls to become master locksmiths as they found ways to pry out the doors using credit cards and objects around the house. Angel looked up to his sister and wanted to be included in everything going on around him. If a conflict occurred between the two, he would use his powers of distraction by knocking over cups of water and blaming it on Jenny. When he was young, the family took a trip to the butterfly house. Angel wasn’t sure what he was in for before heading in. After he found himself face to face with a butterfly, but at the time seen as a colorful, winged monster, he hit the ground running. That would become the start of his joy in running ahead. It was the way he enjoyed life, but running straight ahead as fast as he could. If he was about to get in trouble for something that happened between siblings, he would run right to Jose and Norma to explain how he wasn’t the one in the wrong. He had the tendency to even run out of the shower on a regular basis. Angel wouldn’t even bother to get dressed or dry off before these runs around the house. When out on the trail with Norma, he would run ahead, make it to his destination, and then come back to meet her. At this time, I’d like to ask Jenny to come up and light a candle on behalf of the special relationship she shared with her little brother.

Jenny lights Candle

Angel was loved by his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins as well. He embraced his friends as family as well. Growing up, he was also influenced by his hero, Spiderman. He received a Spiderman costume at an early age, and used it as his second skin. Angel went through a phase where he wore nothing but his Spiderman costume. Getting him out of it in order to wash the costume was an impossible task. He continued to wear the costume far beyond what some would consider an appropriate age to be wearing the costume. I think that he felt invincible when he envisioned himself as Spider-man. Angel was stubborn and always found a way to do what he wanted to do. He felt most comfortable outdoors, in any capacity possible. You couldn’t get him to stay indoors and watch tv, unless it was something with Spiderman or How I Met Your Mother. He’d much rather spend his time running free like his hero. At this time, I would like to invite Angel’s extended family to come up at this time and light some candles in honor of their special connections with Angel.

Extended family light Candles

Let us take a few minutes and listen to a song by Lord Huron. Listen to the lyrics of a song that was very special to Angel and his sister, Jenny.

Funeral Director - Play Song 2 - To The Ends of the Earth

Anybody who knows Angel knows that he his love for music was unparalleled. As a child, he went to his first concert with his parents. He spotted a group of concert-goers thrashing around in a circle as he witness his first mosh pit. Jose and Norma would also play music for Angel and when he was young, he began feeling the music while listening to Cheyenne. He would try and dance and follow the music. If he was fussing around in the car, they would just turn on Cheyenne and Angel would just follow along to the music. For Angel, his choice in music was a way to release his feelings. When you heard rap music blaring, you immediately knew that he was not to be messed with. When the music was flowing through the house, Norma knew just leave him alone. His friends also got to experience the joy of his love of music. He would show up at Jacob’s house, with all the windows down, explicit lyrics flying through the neighbor-hood, and just park and wait for Jacob to come outside. Then while they drove, any and all discussions were never had in place of music; instead they were just shouted over the songs. Along with his music, he loved driving around. Any reason at all to get in the car and cruise around was good enough for Angel. Jose decided to get Angel his first car, with a manual transmission. Of course, this meant that Jose was going to have to teach Angel how to operate it first. They would practice around Kenridge High School in the parking lot, but he just wasn’t quite picking it up. Instead of giving up, he kept trying and Jose eventually took him onto a road with a stop sign at the top of the hill. Any of you that drive a stick shift knows that this isn’t a move for beginners, and Angel would be in for a ride. As he was stopped at the stop sign, he saw some friends he knew and panicked. After releasing the brake, the car began to slide backwards and stalled from releasing the clutch. The car continued to roll, and An-gel hopped out of the car and wiped his hands clean of the entire driving a stick thing. He worked over Jose until he got his dream car, a Volkswagen Jetta. After being informed that he had to take great care of the car since it was expensive to maintain. Angel promised to always care for it. Despite his best intentions, the car fell into dis-repair and was always a mess inside.

Angel’s presence meant something different to each of you. This unique loss that you are each going through can only be felt by you, and the unique memories he has left with you will live on inside your heart as his eternal flame burns on.

At this time, I would like to invite some of you to share those unique memories of Angel.

Invite Jacob, Reyes, Wally, and possibly Jenny up to speak.

If there is anybody else that would like to share their favorite memory of Angel I invite you to come do so at this time.

Open for Storytelling

Thank you so much for having the courage to try and put into words how much Angel meant to each of you.

Before you go today, I have a gift for each of you.

Explain Takeaways

You now are the representatives and the ambassadors of Angel's legacy. He gave you wonderful gifts of resilience, talent, strength, acceptance, and love. He showed you how to live life loud and to the fullest. While not every moment was easy and not every memory etched in gold, in the final analysis Angel gave to each of you every inch of what he had to offer. He never held back and always tried to give it his all. He put all the pieces together in the very best way he could.

You are his future and his memories. Be kind and patient with one another and allow each one of your family and friends to experience grief in the way that fits them best. Be present for each other during those difficult times; the holidays, the anniversaries, the birthdays, the times that you will miss him the most. Be proud that you were part of his world.

And for those of you who stand with the family, be available for their tears and be ears for their stories. In the next days, weeks, and months, call, email, or write and let the family know that you are thinking of them and that you miss the light of Angel in your life too. No one should have to walk the journey of grief alone.

Do not judge a biography by it’s length,

Nor by the number of pages in it.

Judge it by the richness of it’s contents

Sometimes those unfinished are among the most poignant

Do not judge a song by it’s duration

Nor by the number of it’s notes

Judge it by the way it touches and lifts the soul

Sometimes those unfinished are among the most beautiful

And when something has enriched your life

And when it’s melody lingers on in your heart

Is it unfinished?

Or is it endless?

Let us close with a prayer.

Dear Father, we thank you for the life of Angel Moreno. He left too soon and left such a legacy of resilience and courage for us to re-member him by. We are grateful for the strength, dedication, and love that he gave to his world. We ask that you be a comforting presence for his grieving family and help them as they carve a place in their hearts for new memories. Stitch up their wounded hearts in your own good time and grant them peace. In your name, as we re-member Angel. Amen.

We all sit here today linked together by a single thread, which can easily be broken, but today links our hearts together as a time to share, a time to cry, a time to remember and a time to sigh. No time is greater than now to rely on the friendships that lead us together in a saddened good-by to this young life. Let us walk together as we begin a journey. This journey may be long however we must re-member our lives have been changed and will never be the same.

Just as each fingerprint is unique, no two are the same, it is the same for the impact that our lives have on others. Each of us has a unique soul and every time we come into contact with others we leave our soul print. As we listen to this final song, we will each leave our fin-gerprints upon Angel’s urn to remain, blend together, and forever signify the impact and soul print this wonderful life has made upon our soul. This soul print upon our life has touched us each in a dif-ferent and unique way, which will remains as we carry these memo-ries in our hearts. Now the funeral director will guide each of you in coming forward to complete this ceremony. Your hand print is that of friendship in honor of this life and to that belief that “a life shared is a life to never be forgotten.”

After you come forward, please join the family for some refresh-ments inside the funeral home. Share those stories that might not have been told today, and continue to honor the life of a man who meant so much to those here today and those who were unable to be here that are missing his unique soul elsewhere.

Thank you once again.

Funeral Director - Play Song 3 - Young Blood