Seven

I haven't posted in a very long time.

Happy Birthday, Brady!!

Brady is 7 today and going into the 2nd grade!!  Time really does fly!!  We love this kid more than words can express. He was meant for this family.   He came to us at a time when we needed to know that life goes on.  We needed to know it was okay to live.  We needed to be able to open our hearts again because they were so broken.  This kid, in essence, helped save us.  We love him and couldn't be more grateful he came to us when he did.

He takes life by storm.  He is so happy all the time.  He loves friends, legos, pizza and playing with his sister, Madilyn.    We couldn't ask for a better seven year old.

Without taking away from our sweet, energetic and always moving seven year old, we realized this is a tough year for us to handle.  He is 7.  This is the age we lost our Ethan suddenly.  2011.  The year our lives changed.

We now know we lived longer without Ethan than we did with him.

We fear for Brady's second grade year.  Will something happen to him?  Should we have him checked out?  Will he make it?

These are real fears we face as we head into his second grade year.

Brady reminds us of his brother a lot, but is still very much his own person.  I had someone tell me once in a grief session.  "You are lucky.  This baby (Brady at the time) will help you grieve and will remind you of the one you have lost."  At the time, I thought this to be a weird statement.  However, as Brady has grown, it is such a blessing!  He does help us live, and he does remind us of Ethan (as if we get to see a glimpse of Ethan still living).  Because of this reminder, we do have times we fear for Brady as if the same thing will happen to him.

Brady knows he has a connection to his brother.  He knows that's how he got his name.  We keep Ethan very alive in our house - talking about him and praying for him every day.  Brady loves his brother although they were not with us at the same time on this earth.  We know some people feel it odd that we still talk about Ethan, but to us, he is family.  He always will be, and so he stays an open topic.  Brady loves to talk about him as if he knows him.

We love that Brady gets to bring up the rear and keep us forever young.

Happy Birthday, Brady!!  Thank you for being you!  Thank you for all the sweet reminders you constantly give us.  Thanks for keeping us young.  You're the best, buddy!!