Happy Birthday CharlieMy wonderful, sweet boy, Happy Birthday in Heaven.  We wish we could hold you, snuggle you close and watch you eat birthday cake.  We wish you could hold your baby sister Causby, let Ellie help you blow out your candles, and see you run and play with your friends today.  We wish you were here not only in spirit, but in body, to celebrate your birthday with us.

We talk about you all the time. Causby and Ellie know how much you love them.  And Charlie, they adore you! They know their big brother is with them always. We watch videos, share stories of you to whomever will listen (Mommy shares even with people who might not want to hear) and we giggle when we think of your belly laugh.  You are in all of our smiles.

Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you!  You continue to bring us such joy. You, my darling, give us strength we didn’t know we had in us.  You remind us to get up everyday, do our best to smile and live for loving on others. And hopefully, like you, we will leave this world a little better than we came into it.   

My love, today we will celebrate you as though you were right next to us, like you never left. We will dress like superheros and eat doughnuts at your preschool until our bellies ache. We will go to the zoo and listen to the monkeys cackle at each other and laugh at how stinky the flamingos are.  We will ride the carousel without our shirts on (ok, maybe just daddy will take his off) and let ice cream drip down our faces. We will jam out to “Can’t Stop the Feeling” with the windows down making sure to take our shoes off so we are extra comfortable.  We will eat pizza with extra “sheeze” and sing Happy Birthday, with your friends gathered around your “shocolate” doughnut cake.

And as we blow out your candles, we will make a wish just like the one we made last year—that our time on Earth will be full of love and purpose, but a blink in comparison, to our separation from you.  

Happy Birthday my sweet, sweet Charlie!

Mommy and Daddy love you to the moon and back!