Sean Costello Eulogy
April 19th, 2008This morning I buried my good friend, business partner and band leader, Sean Costello. I along with Jon Liebman and Paul Campanella were asked to pool our collective thoughts in the form of a eulogy for Sean’s funeral.
After telling each other our favorite Sean stories, and after many conversations with his fans and friends this week, and after a week’s worth of sleepless nights I finished writing the work you see below which was delivered by Paul at today’s service. Many of you have asked me to post it publicly, which I do gladly. However, I’d like to say first that I loved Sean very much.
Our relationship was tumultuous and beautiful all at once. I placed a great deal of pressure on him at times, and over the years, I developed into more of a big brother than a friend.
I hated having to look after him (or feeling like I did) but I adored watching him shine.
He had my entire amount of respect musically and he encompassed, in a way, every hope I had for my own life.
This eulogy was a labor of love that I was happy to endure. I wish I could have contributed more to ease his family’s suffering.
If you’re the praying type, I beg you to pray for these wonderful people.
Sean’s passing was so sudden and senseless but truly accidental. His love for his music, his friends, fans and especially his family however was real and so very genuine and intentional. It was this love that kept him going when times were at their darkest. It was what made him the wonderful musician and human being that we know that he was.
But instead of gathering here to mourn his death, we should remember the very special things about Sean that gave him life.
What was so important to Sean was to gain the love and respect of those he cared about and would do everything short of stop time in order to get it. When Sean loved you, you knew it. If you accepted it, you had a friend for life.
Sean identified with American music at a young age and saw his reflection in the stories that it told. He used this love as the basis on which to build his life. A naturally shy person, Sean used music to reach out and show us who he really was. And through Sean we saw what was best about the Blues - it’s intensity of emotion, it’s truth - it’s soul.
The stage was Sean’s sanctuary and his salvation. It was where he felt most comfortable and most confident. It was his home. It was on these stages where he met his closest friends and forged bonds that would shape his destiny.
On these stages, Sean was a star.
His best friends will remember most what an honor it was to live with him, and to share a part of those stages with him. We will remember how special we felt to be a part of his life. We will remember how we tried to take care of him, and how he tried to take care of us.
In our lives, Sean was a star.
It was his music that allowed him to shine the brightest.
It was his love that allowed us to bask in that light.- Aaron Trubic, 4/19/08
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