Saturday, May 17, 2014

Nathan's 18th Birthday

A few weeks prior to Nathan's birthday I was honored to receive an amazing gift. A classmate of his, Caleb, made a video with clips of Nathan at school, including some of the projects he was part of and also interviews with several friends and a teacher. I cannot begin to express how much this video means to me... to be able to watch Nathan and hear his voice... it is a healing balm to me. Sometimes I fear that I wont be able to remember how his voice sounded. Here is the video

Heading towards Nathan's birthday I knew that I would take the day off from work and go to the pier. My youngest daughter had planned a birthday celebration with all of us who could make it. Rebekah and Nick drove to join in and I took Joseph and Victor out of school. We were joined by one of Nathan's best friends ever... Tetsuro Okabe. He used to play tennis with Bek when she was a freshman in high school and continued to be a role model and friend to most of my children. Nathan admired him very much. I was so glad that he spent time with us.

When we arrived at the pier I first thought that someone had hung rainbow streamers up, then as we got closer I saw the most beautiful strings of 1000 paper cranes. Nathan's dear friend, Sarah, had spent the previous four weeks or so making them herself and wrote a touching letter to him.

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Zoey had our special day planned out beautifully. She brought a heart shaped box with an opening on the top along with paper and someone had a couple of pens. We each wrote prayers/letters and put them inside. Tetsuro brought a cup of Nathan's favorite coffee and a balloon that we each wrote a message on. Later in the afternoon I emptied the coffee over the side of the pier, as Tetsuro wished. I am not sure who left roses and a framed photo.

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Zoey would not let anyone see the birthday cake ahead of time and it was an amazing surprise! I loved it.

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We spent another hour or two at the shore. It was beautiful.

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Aaaaah. Here's my boy's smile...

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Overall, this was a very blessed day. I very well may always feel drawn to this place. So be it. It is beautiful here, for that I am thankful. Until next time,

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3 comments:

Karla Marie said...

I absolutely love your pictures! <3 Love you all.

Veronica Wilson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Veronica Wilson said...

I never had the pleasure of meeting your son, but I have followed his story since day one. I Thank you for sharing your thoughts and beautiful photos, of such a private day. I have also watched the video that was made by friends and family and was quite moved. Hugs, love and healing to you and your loved ones.