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This is how Pete Meile is being remembered.
The Ramsey native died Dec. 17, just six days shy of his 29th birthday.
Meile, a triplet, grew up playing football alongside his brothers, Matt and Billy. He was "the youngest but the largest," a feature article in the Times Union reads.
Dec. 23, 2020 was the first day Billy and Matt have ever celebrated their birthday without their big-little bro.
"For us, it really has always been the three of us," Billy told Daily Voice Wednesday evening.
"I still look at old photos and think that I will see him tomorrow on Christmas Eve, but I won’t."
Meile graduated Don Bosco Prep and went on to play football for Union College, where he earned his B.A. in political science.
His former football coaches, friends and loved ones all remembered him similarly: As a leader -- both on and off the field.
"As many of you know, Peter was not only a great football player, but an awesome young man who was a leader for all of us," former coach John Audino wrote on Facebook.
"Peter loved Union football, his coaches and teammates, and he will be missed tremendously by me and I am sure by all of us who knew him. I feel blessed as a coach and a mentor to have had the pleasure to coach such a fine human being."
Audino described Meile as being highly self-motivated, smart and a "real nasty offensive lineman.
"His technique was unbelievable, and he gave his all for our program and his school."
The only thing Pete loved more than playing football was watching his brother Eric on the field, said Andrew Parrilla, a longtime friend of the Meile boys.
"He was such a proud big brother," said Parrilla, "and that is a testament to Barbara and Bill and how he was raised."
Despite being large in stature, Peter was a gentle giant, Parrilla noted.
"Peter had this infectious smile that could truly light up a room," he said. "He was fiercely loyal and protective of anyone he considered family.
"To make people feel so welcome and then to be able to make them feel so safe truly speak to who Peter was as a person."
Gary Reynolds in a tribute to the Meile family said his thoughts of Pete started with tears, but "are now ending with a smile.
"That’s because his infectious positive outlook, smile, and attitude have blocked the sorrow for me. It does not block the sorrow I am feeling for your loss and I pray that your strength as a family will hold you all up as you cope.🙏🏼"
Billy is still coming to terms with the fact that he will never see his brother again.
"It’s really hard to not only lose your brother, " he said, "but your best friend at the same time."
Even though Peter is not physically here anymore, Parrilla said to him, they'll always be "The Triplets."
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