Happy Birthday ! Daniel Would Be 29 !

 

 

                      I can't believe that you, my love, would be twenty-nine years old today !   The last time we spoke you were twelve and a half !   So much has happened in our family and in the world since your departure.  I know that God will let you know anything you are meant to, so I won't waste our time updating superficial things here on Earth.

                      Suffice it to say that only one animal that you loved and that would remember you remains here on Earth.  The alpaca Warrior Princess Camellia is just that. She is substantially beyond normal lifespan, yet fights to remain here, reluctant to join her mother Queen Isabelle, her father Ditto Two, her brother Chocolat and a sister she did not know, Shakria.  I know she misses her uncles and other herd mates,many that you did not know, that were here when she was young and middle aged..  We watch her closely, and she still loves her life, but someday soon, she will be coming to you, and to her animal family.  Perhaps God doesn't think I can handle the loss of anyone else who is dear to me, and this is why she remains.

                      Your brother Matthew has been gone from Earth now two and a half years.  I am not doing well with his loss. I try hard but I am bitter having lost two sons, and despite the fact that I tell myself that God blessed me with children and what should be a good life, I sometimes can't see past these losses.  I also miss my Dad very much. I pray unceasingly.

                       Thank you for visiting in dreams. I appreciate those visits from Dad and from Matthew also. 

                      I will probably never be okay with your having to depart at twelve and a half, but I tell myself that each day I live, I am closer to a reunion with you, with Matt and with my Dad and the animals. I also will see our Lord.  I must have been very prideful to think I could do all I set for myself here on Earth.  I have stumbled since your departure, and been lost more than a few times.  You certainly had a very human mother.

                        Happy Birthday, Daniel.  I love you deeper than the oceans and wider than the seas.

       

 

 

Happy Birthday, Daniel 2022

 

This is the posting to your twenty-sixth birthday. Somehow, we are almost fourteen years from the date of your sudden departure. We still miss you very much. Yesterday, your nephew lamented to your sister that he missed you. It seemed a ridiculous thing to say, even for a young child because he had never known you on Earth. However, you departed at the end of 2008, and he came to Earth in 2014, and so there may have been time between 2008 and 2014 for you and he to get to know one another. Perhaps he is telling the truth when he says this. Please know that no matter how long you have been gone from here that we still think of you daily and we miss you and Papa Lawrence. Sometimes, I allow my mind to drift and wonder what you would have done here on the Earth had you remained. There are a lot of situations on the Earth that have deteriorated since your departure, in politics, in medicine, in government, and in education. Sometimes, I am pleased you were spared some of this on the particularly bad days. You are always my son, and I always love you. Sometimes, when something momentous happens, like when I met your newest nephew for the first time, I feel your spirit beside me. I love you deeper than the oceans, and wider than the seas.

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Daniel

 
 Happy Birthday Daniel, on what would be your 23rd birthday here on Earth.   So much has changed since your departure, and so much has stayed the same.  Despite the fact that you have been gone eleven years this year, Sally, the dog remains from the time in which you were still here.  Warrior Princess Camellia, the alpaca, is also here, and hails from the times in which you still were.

     We think of you often, and send our love.

    

To Daniel, Who Would be Nineteen, This Week

Daniel,

       I can hardly believe that this would be your nineteenth birthday if you had been able to remain on Earth. You would likely be in college working on, goodness knows what degree by now.  You would have a cluster of friends who no doubt would be important to you, and I would probably see you most often when I drive to your college to have lunch with you periodically, just as I did with your siblings. You would probably be playing the "Magic" strategy card game with your friends, and when you had a chance, you would be working for a local food bank as I know this was important to you when you were younger.  Sometimes, to stay sane, I pretend that you are "in college" in Heaven, and that my Dad and Jesus guide you there. It gives me a temporary framework of normalcy, so that I don't have to tell myself you are simply gone from Earth.

       Here on the farm, all the animals you knew are aging.  One by one, they pass and then I am sure, come to you.  We have several farm animals who are deteriorating in the face of extreme advanced age, and will be coming to you soon. Jared, the Siberian Husky you knew so well, fights hard to remain here as long as possible, but at fifteen and a half, he is failing, a little bit each day.

      I have come to think of myself as the "clean up crew" and support staff to your life here on Earth.  I will continue to care for your animals, and be a loving and supportive parent to your siblings, and to your little nephew who smiles at your picture as if he somehow knows a special secret between the two of you. I will have faith, and I will continue to believe in the loving Father who not only keeps your soul safe now, but who lent your wonderful spirit to me in the shape of a wonderful son, in the first place.

       Happy Birthday, Daniel.   Today, I will bake you a cake, share it with your siblings, care for your animals, take care of your nephew, and your siblings, and I will dust your room and clean a little. You have been gone from Earth for six and a half years, and yet, I love you just as much as I did that day, if not more.



   

Happy Birthday, Daniel