NASHUA – Melanie Regis’ wrists bear the words “live on” and “be strong,” two phrases she got from her older son. That was Nick Yanco’s final message to those who loved him.

It was communicated a year ago Monday, just before tragedy struck. By the end of the day Aug. 27, 2011, the extended Yanco and Regis families and a boatload of the young man’s friends were reeling in shock and sadness over their collective loss. Nicholas Joseph Yanco, the lanky quarterback with a legendary knack for turning frowns upside down, had taken his own life, six weeks before his 21st birthday.

On Monday evening, Regis, her husband Trevor, their extended families and numerous friends encircled Yanco’s grave at Woodlawn Cemetery, clutching candles and sharing memories on the first anniversary of his death.

“It’s still very fresh,” Regis said earlier Monday. “That’s why I say I don’t think I’ll ever be OK. That was always my last prayer to God; don’t ever let me outlive any one of my children.”

Nick had called his mother the day he died. “He was supposed to come over,” Regis said. On the phone, “he was just telling me how much he loved me and thanked me for everything I taught him.”

She’ll never forget his final words: “Live on, be strong and I’ll always be with you.” Though she’d vowed to never get a tattoo, Regis made an exception. “I had to,” she said of the neatly scripted phrases on her wrists. “It’s been very hard.”

Regis said Monday’s gathering, roughly 70 strong, was inspired by a smaller remembrance get-together on Oct. 10, which would have been Nick’s 21st birthday.

A warm evening breeze rustled ample trees on the far west end of Woodlawn Cemetery as attendees lighted their candles from the one atop Nick’s gravestone. Trevor Regis spoke first, reading a biblical passage “A Time for Everything.” His brother, Mike, a landscaper from Hudson, stressed the importance of talking when problems arise. “There are a lot of young people here tonight. I just want to say you need to be strong, and talk about it, when something is tearing at you,” he said. “Please, find someone to talk to.”

Ben Stewart broached the possibility of an annual tribute to his friend, and perhaps growing it by “doing something for him, something he’d like to do, maybe go to Greeley Park and toss a football around.”

A Nashua High North lineman who blocked for quarterback Yanco since they were junior varsity players, Stewart remembers “right where I was” when he got the news of Yanco’s death. His younger brother, also a close friend of Yanco’s, called Stewart in Concord where he was visiting a friend.

It wasn’t until after Yanco died that Stewart saw the chilling, heart-wrenching missive his ailing, hurting friend posted on Facebook. “I wish I’d known that he was having such a tough time,” he said. “I would have tried to help.”

Stewart echoed Mike Regis’ comments about the importance of seeking help when things sour. Likewise, he said, it’s important to keep an eye out for others.

“If you see someone’s upset, try to do something about it,” he said. “It can mean a lot.”

Some friends did see Yanco’s note, and though they notified the family and police, their actions were too late.

“It’s not something he wanted to do; things had happened to him,” Melanie Regis said. “He just felt he wasn’t going to be able to be the person he wanted to be.” But the person he was, she said, was apparently more than enough to everyone who knew him.

Yanco was an infant when his parents separated. He lived with his father, Joseph, in Nashua, attending Broad Street Elementary School and Elm Street Middle School before going to Nashua High North.

Friends continue to share stories about Yanco on a Facebook group dedicated to his memory. Called “Nick Yanco forever missed,” the group has 719 members and is updated regularly. “Hey buddy,” one member wrote Monday. “A lot has changed in the last year but not a day goes by that I don’t think about you or talk about you.”

“Nick, you’re missed each and everyday by everyone who loves you,” another wrote. “I can’t believe it has been a year already.”

Melanie Regis, who lives in Hudson and works in Nashua, said she stops by her son’s grave three to four times a week. But the passing days have not made the pain any easier to bear.

“I’ve cried every day,” Regis said. “No matter where I go, I always see someone who knew him. It just takes me back a step.”

A group of Yanco’s friends who are part of a local musical group called Gate City Squad even wrote a song about him, she said.

“One girl was like, ‘One day, I was really upset, and Yanco smiled at me, and I didn’t smile back, so he came running over to me,’” Regis recounted. “He said, ‘Hey, what’s wrong? You need to have a smile on your face.’ And when I smiled, he said, ‘there you go. That’s what I want to see.’ He was just always trying to make sure everyone was happy. He was so special. We’ll all miss him.”

Maryalice Gill can be reached at 594-6490 or mgill@nashuatelegraph.com. Also, follow Gill on Twitter (@Telegraph_MAG).