I think I understood what people meant when they would say "he/she has an infectious smile" once I met Zac. He really, really did have an infectious smile. It is etched into my brain so vividly that I smile thinking about it. I remember Zac always saying "I love you" to me..and to everyone that he loved. Even in the weird binary years for girls and boys - like 7th and 8th grade - Zac always told all of the people he loved that he loved them. He was never too cool to say it, even when the other boys were ignoring the girls or making fun of the girls as a way of showing affection. He was beyond his years in that way, and was so clearly raised in a home where you shared love generously and consistently.
Zac was popular and cool by all conventional standards, but he defied the norm so confidently by being goofy and vulnerable, as evidenced here, in this picture of us on Halloween. While the other boys wore street clothes disguised as Halloween costumes, Zac wore a skin-tight, midriff bearing tiger costume (and a sultry look to complete it). And as in this picture, he always made me laugh.
I also always think of Zac when I think about scary movies. I really don't like them, and rarely watch them. But Zac loved them and always convinced us to watch them in his parents' basement. Even on a warm summer day in the middle of the afternoon, he'd suggest that we go in the basement and turn all of the lights off and watch a scary movie. Only he could convince a crew of teenagers to do that. He always made it fun somehow.
Sweet Zac, rest in peace.
I love you back,
Maddie Rose