Ryan and Emilie Matthias watched their 5-year-old son Garrett fight a rare form of pediatric cancer for nine gut-wrenching months.

Garrett never lost his sense of humor even through the painful treatments. He enjoyed teasing his doctors and nurses being a kindhearted preschooler and prankster. Usually he was the one who made them laugh.

When an Iowa couple discovered that their son’s cancer was terminal, they knew how essential it was to speak to Garrett about how he wanted to be remembered. But they were willing to walk cautiously with this.

Ryan and Emilie never spoke specifically about his funeral or the fact that he was going to pass away with Garrett.

“We had a lot of conversations around ‘When I die, I want to do this,’” Emilie told WHO TV.

Garrett passed away in July 2018. He left behind the now-viral necrology he would write himself. He mentions his beloved grandparents, his love for superheroes, and his dislike of needles and pants.

“That’s him speaking,” Ryan said. “Those are his words verbatim.”

Read the complete obituary of Garrett below.