Why celebrate?

There are some dates I remember. These are the birthdates of my siblings and their children. Tomorrow is my nephew's birthday and he actually gets a holiday from school. Well he is in Primary 5 and not involved in the Primary 6 islandwide oral examination! Good for him and for me, I get to have his company for 2-3 hours.

This guy is precious. He arrived after mum fought and had her cancer in remission. She was very disappointed when a new primary set in as she wanted very much to be the care giver. And she fought really hard but the enemy was relentless. There were a few days that I had to baby sit birthday boy who was then just about 2. I had photos of those days and they are special - mum's time with him and my attempts to amuse him on the record!

Alas when she was near the end, she described each of her grandchildren with deep insight. She thought birthday boy was intelligent and possibly be up to mischief if unguided. When we finally walked the last journey behind the hearse, I was carrying this little guy and he was a great consolation.

And so I treasure this gift of life as God slowly and painfully took away mum's. I celebrate his life and want him to know how grandma fought to live because he was so precious and so desired. What a happy birthday it will be to know you are loved and you are a delight to have and a strong motivation for living!