READING, Pa. — Great memories don’t always make you feel better.
“For me, at the stage that I’m at in grieving, there is no happy place,” said Tavia Cannon. “Good memories make it harder on me.”
Former NFL player Antonio Dennard’s girlfriend, his seven children, and the rest of his family gathered at Life Church in Reading to remember him.
“He was a God-fearing man and he loved the Lord,” said Yumeka Dennard. “He loved his family most of all. He loved his children.”
According to the police, Dennard was shot and killed in October following an argument with 24-year-old Jose Pizarro of Reading. It happened outside of Legends in Muhlenberg Township. His girlfriend was with him when it happened.
“I’m still stuck in that place, where I’m kinda like this can’t be,” Cannon said. “I’m still stuck in what my future looked like.”
His girlfriend said they met in Atlantic City when Dennard was with the New York Giants. The word football comes up a lot when the family talks about Dennard, but not as much as family.
“That he was the best dad, the most loving dad, the most loving partner,” Cannon said.
The service closed with his kids releasing balloons that almost seemed to be drawn directly to the bright sun.
“It was awesome,” Dennard said. “It was like the balloons was going up to heaven to him. That’s what I think.”
His loved ones said they want him to be remembered most of all as a loving father, leaving a lasting legacy with his children.
“If not the NFL, because times changed. If not riches and gold,” Cannon said. “It is these babies.”