Andrew’s 3rd birthday couldn’t have come at more busy and stressful time for our family. After months of very slow progress on renovating our “new” house, drywall was finally up which meant that we were now able to proceed full steam ahead on the finish work (laying tile, trim work, painting, etc). While this was great in some ways, the timing just couldn’t have been worse from a grief standpoint.
Each August, I find myself wanting to slow down, take a deep breath, and do something meaningful to remember our sweet firstborn in heaven. I think of him every single day throughout the year, but I find myself compelled to do something more tangible on his birthday. Ideally, I’d love to get out of town. It just seems odd that such a bittersweet day for us is just another day for the rest of the world. While the rest of the world moves along, I feel like standing still and savoring the memories we have with Andrew.
So, with all the craziness going on with our house renovation, I honestly wasn’t able to celebrate the day the way that I would have liked. Our day did consist of our annual tradition of birthday cake. This year, I actually opted for cupcakes which we took to the cemetery and enjoyed with Savannah. We also released balloons (3 balloons for his 3rd birthday) at his grave site this year, something I have wanted to do but just never had. I’d like to make this a tradition as well.
While I wish so badly that we were celebrating our little boy together as a family, I’m so thankful that we WILL make up for lost time in heaven!
