Especially tomorrow.
Our little guy --- who looks so much like Ethan even he thought he was looking at a picture of himself in some of the photos I've pulled up --- he is having his 5th birthday party.
Five years ago tomorrow and it seems like it was just yesterday I saw him being born.
I was telling him today just how tiny he used to be, and held my hands on my chest and shoulder, showing how I cradled his head and little butt lol.
He climbed up in my lap and asked me to hold him like that again. Try as we did, we just couldn't get him to fit. But we cuddled and that's all that matters.
Five years is nothing. A blink of an eye, really. I sit here thinking how it would be if I only had these last 5 years to last me a lifetime. I can't imagine what Joe is going through, and will go through with every anniversary of Ethan's birth, Christmas' and other milestones. When he would have entered school. Played little league. Gotten his license. Graduated. Married. Had children. Lived.
These monsters are thieves of the worst order. They stole Ethan away from those who cherish him. And even after doing that, they stole from Joe the chance to see and hold his son one last time.
Tomorrow will be our little guy's big day. He's getting a big-boy's bike and the construction set he asked for. He's also getting plenty of lovin' and hugs.