Editor’s Note
“Our Friend Gaige” is a beautiful collaboration between WOTS Editor in Chief, Amanda Niess, and Jessica Concie, mother of Gaige Michael Concie.
Gaige Michael Concie was a short-term guest at Interfaith Sanctuary. He passed away on February 10, 2024 from an accidental drug overdose. His mother, Jessica Concie wanted to pay homage to her son, spread awareness and encapsulate who he really was: a friend with a drive to help others, a young adult with a passion for making music, a lover with an evergreen appreciation for animals and a son with closeted mental health complications. Jessica shared her son’s optimistic outlook on life with Amanda, despite the difficult obstacles he had to endure at such a young age.
We at Interfaith Sanctuary honored Gaige last month with a memorial service between staff, close friends and family.
OUR FRIEND GAIGE
By: Amanda Niess and Jessica Concie
Daisy bloom in place of him
His laughter lingers in the wind
The shirt warm off his back,
helping us fight the cold.
Gaige’s heart was made of gold
to escape the mind is a certain fate
just one more time and it’s too late.
But all the light you left here to shine
will glow on us even in the darkest times
Let us remember our good friend Gaige.
Whose laughter will echo on
for the rest of our lives as we age
and hoping he has found his peace
somewhere kinder somewhere better,
somewhere that his heart will never cease