Halloween, my (dad) 36th birthday, and Sawyer’s first roll have come and gone. Aiden was Woody for his first Halloween. Keeping up with tradition his brother Sawyer went as Buzz. Aiden joined us as we trick or treated around town. He also helped me blow out my candles for my birthday. Mama and I finished picking out his benches to put in local parks in his memory. Stinker Man is with us everywhere, but not a minute goes by that we don’t think about him or wish he was here physically.

It was tough watching Sawyer play in the leaves for the first time without his brother. Aiden loved getting all bundled up and going outside to play. Luckily, Mama raked the leaves close enough to Aiden’s tree that we could hear him singing in the wind chimes as he watched his brother crinkle the leaf piles.

CompassionNet is still a tremendous resource for us. They generously provided us with grief counseling, ideas for Aiden for Christmas, and beautiful board books for Sawyer that feature him and his brother on the pages. They also had clay hand prints done of Sawyer and Aiden that we just got back. They are lovely pieces and even include a wind chime made from all our thumb prints.

Miss you everyday buddy,
Love, Mama and Dad