Oct 16

We had a great visit with Ry & Kim and the kids this weekend.  Joel's brother and our sister inlaw are some of the few people we laugh til we cry with.  It's refreshment in so many ways.

Our weekend started out with a night out in downtown Kalamazoo...delicious food, excellent customer service and live music.  Laughter is always present.  I love that.

Joel & I not only drove to MI to visit our fam but to celebrate our nephew, Elijah.  He turned 10 Saturday, October 16.  Elijah is not just any 10 year old.  He is one of the most tender little men I have ever known.  I love that Jude looks up to him so much.

Elijah's life and age are symbolic as Joel and I met and became friends right around the time he was born. He was also the first grandbaby on Joel's side and we have such sweet memories of him growing up.  Seeing those 10 candles on the cake made me so grateful for his sweet life and spirit.

On his 5th birthday, tragedy came, however.  Joel's brother passed away on Oct 16, 2005.  I will never forget Joel getting that dreadful phonecall...the tears...the shock.  A sunday afternoon that should have been merely spent celebrating Elijah's 5years of life...became a day we learned of Matt's death.

As the years have gone by, we celebrate Elijah on that date...and hug him a little tighter.  We miss Matt terribly.  His life creates an unmistakeable hole in our family...but we celebrate the gift of life in Elijah.  For that, we are SO grateful.