Happy First Birthday Luke

Sweet Luke, your dad and I hope that you enjoyed your first birthday in heaven. Today we imagined who shared the celebration with you, and we had to smile when we thought of all of our loved ones in heaven with you. Your Great Grandpa Hines and Great Grandpa Timmerman along with your Great Grandma Timmerman would have been passing you back and forth on their laps. Your Great Uncle Thomas, Great Uncle Paul and cousin John who went to heaven when they were young too sat by your side. Gabriel, Kayla, Rielle, Audrey and Isaac were your playmates at the party and Haley's mom Susan made sure everything was perfect for you today. Julie's dad got you your first fishing rod and is going to take you camping, and your Great Uncle Mike made sure that you had plenty of smiles and laughs by doing his Yogi the Bear impression. Your Great Great Uncle Bill made sure you had plenty of cuddles today and Jesus was the guest of honor. Luke, we couldn't imagine a better party for you. We wish more than anything we could have been there too.

Here on earth, we honored your birthday the best way we could while missing you. Your dad and I slept in a little bit, and then stayed cuddled on our bed talking about you and remembering what it was like the day you were born. The weather was much the same as it was today - cold and windy. At 11:14 a.m., we cried while we remembered your debut into the world and how proud we felt when we saw your beautiful face for the first time and felt the weight and warmth of you in our arms. We had waited so long to hold you Luke and once you were in our arms we never wanted to let you go. Your dad kept saying how beautiful you were and called you his Little Buddy. Your grandparents and aunts and uncles were so happy to meet you too, and to hold you. I will never forget Grandma Hines cuddling your cute little bare feet in her hands and your uncles carefully holding you.

Your dad and I could not have gotten through this day without our friends and family. We could feel their love lifting us up and carrying us through. Each of our loved ones had their own way of letting us know they cared and we treasure each one. Katherine who would have been your playmate on earth told me today "Happy Birthday Luke" in her sweet 2-year-old voice. I will never forget it. Not to mention all of the emails, cards and phone calls we received letting us know you are not forgotten. We are going to end your special day by eating a bowl of frozen pears - one of your favorite desserts while I was pregnant with you. I had forgotten about this until your honorary Aunt Theresa reminded me.

Happy Birthday sweet son of ours.

Love,
Mom, Dad & Lucy

Luke's Birthday

This past week we received some "Luke Mail" from Toys R Us, inviting us to join Luke in their birthday club, and giving helpful tips on planning his first birthday party. Contrary to what you may think, Will and I are always wistfully glad to receive mail relating to Luke because in some way it shows us that Luke was in fact here. This particular piece of mail peaked my curiosity because I have been wondering what it would have been like to plan Luke's first birthday. Picking a theme, deciding what type of cake to make him, sending out invitations and even figuring out how to fit all of our friends and family in our house. This past week has been difficult to say the least. I have been trying to find a meaningful way to celebrate Luke's birthday while at the same time hoping to just get through it.

After talking to Will and with many tears and deliberation, here is what we have planned for our little guy's first birthday this Thursday, February 19th. We invite all of our friends and family who are able to stop by and visit Luke at the cemetery and leave a special note for him on a card that Will and I will be leaving at his grave in a ziplock bag with a pen to keep it from getting wet. You can leave your own card too if you wish. If you can't make it to the cemetery, you are welcome to post a note on this blog.

If you haven't been to the cemetery before, you can find directions at http://www.mtelliott.com/resurrection.html. Or you can follow Will's directions: upon entering the cemetery, take the tree lined entrance road until it ends. Turn right. Take this road until it ends and turn left. Go past one block. The second block on the left is where Luke is at. Go halfway up that block on the lefthand side and about five to six rows back. He is in section 23, plot 731. We have a smaller pine needle grave blanket with a small orange truck tucked into a blue snowflake bow covering Luke's grave. The cemetery is open from 7 a.m. - 4:45 p.m. daily. If you need more specifics on where Luke's plot is, you can ask at the office whose hours are from 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Saturday. We will have the card there through the end of the weekend (Sunday, February 22nd). Because the cemetery doesn't like any artificial decorations, the ziplock with the card will be tucked into the grave blanket just below Luke's headstone.

We will also have a bag of tootsie rolls in honor of Luke tucked into the grave blanket as well. Please help yourself - you may need to let it thaw a bit before you eat it. As some of you know, this 'garbage' candy is something I craved all throughout my pregnancy with Luke. Although I never cared for tootsie rolls myself, Luke obviously liked them. Maybe they taste different filtered through an umbilical cord. We can hope! I know Luke will be smiling down on us as we try not to loose our fillings on this old fashioned treat.

If there is enough snow, feel free to leave a snowman or a snow angel in memory of Luke. Will and I will be spending the day quietly at home with each other, surrounding ourselves with pictures of Luke, yellow tulips (they remind us of Luke) and probably eating a grilled cheese sandwich with a Clausen pickle for lunch since this was also something I craved while pregnant with Luke. Please say a prayer that we get through the day.

Thank you for all of your support over the last year. Will and I have truly discovered the type of caring and compassionate friends and family that we are blessed to have. We couldn't have journeyed through this past year without you.

Love,
Liz, Will & Lucy, with Luke forever in our hearts

Too bad Luke's buddy Mr. Snowman melted last week!