**Start:** My son Matthew did not loo...

Start:

My son Matthew did not look like a winner. He was rather uncoordinated and wore braces from the age of thirteen until the day he died. However, in all his all too brief life he proved that he was a winner. On October sixth, 1998 my son tried to show the world that he could win again. On October twelfth, 1998 my first born son and my hero, lost. On October twelfth, 1998 my first born son and my hero, died, fifty days before his twenty-second birthday.

[... ...]

End:

Every time you celebrate Christmas, a birthday, the Fourth of July remember that Matthew isn’t. Every time you wake up in your prison cell remember that you had the opportunity and the ability to stop your actions that night. You robbed me of something very precious and I will never forgive you for that. Mr. McKinney, I give you life in the memory of one who no longer lives. May you have a long life and may you thank Matthew every day for it.

For the full extended monologue, please refer to the script edition cited here:

Kaufman, Moises, The Laramie Project Dramatists Play Service Acting Edition, pp.84-5.

Purchase the full script for The Laramie Project on Amazon