Happy Birthday, Erik

Once a joyful day, May 30th is now a day of reflection and tenderness.  My son, my first child was born on this day 36 years ago.  It was a difficult labor and delivery, oh, but that baby!  From the beginning, he had a beautiful spirit, an engaging smile...

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful boy.

By the time he was 16 months old, he had a two month old sister and was identified as legally blind.  At two, we learned he was mentally and physically handicapped.  Each discovery was devastating, but life goes on, and Erik was Erik and I loved him with my whole heart.

You see, I firmly believe that Erik was truly an angel.  He was born send a message of love, to teach, to inspire, and that he did.  It was finally determined that he had a very rare degenerative syndrome.  With every passing year, he lost abilities, but he NEVER lost his smile or his joy.  By 18, he was wheel chair bound and suffered daily from extreme pain.  He'd adjust.  Things would change.  He'd adjust.

Finally, God knew it was time to call him home, to release him from his deteriorating earthly body, to release from pain.  Erik got his wings in September of 2005.  

Now, some of you might wonder why I'm still tender after all of these years.  Well, friends, I don't believe I'll ever recover from the loss of my angel.  I accept it.  I am grateful that he no longer suffers, and I am forever grateful for the years he shared with us here on earth.  Over time, you sort of get used to it, I suppose, but there are days when his absence is just as painful as it was 8 years ago.  Today is just such a day.