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Ben's Birthday

Today my son would have been 11 years old.

We celebrated by going to Dairy Queen for ice cream. I believe he would have approved. We'll be going to historic Jamestown and Yorktown this weekend for more fun in honor of Ben's birthday. We always try to plan something fun that he would have enjoyed doing.

On Sunday, as we were driving home from Virginia Beach, my ipod was playing some of my favorite music. (This is the part where I admit that in my college days, I was a bit of a free spirit. Bob Dylan and Grateful Dead cassettes made up the vast majority of my collection.) My man Bob started singing "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall". It starts out like this: "Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?" I immediately thought of Ben, and in the next moment, Tony had reached over and squeezed my hand. My husband is not a huge displayer of emotion, so this meant A LOT to me. I am no Bob Dylan, but I had the idea to fix the song to fit our story.

Here is my tribute to Ben.
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  1. BarbaraFebruary 22, 2011 at 10:52 PM

    Praying you have peace tonight, Jenny.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousFebruary 22, 2011 at 11:34 PM

    Special blessings to you both. It's hard to express the pain. Our hearts and prayers are with you!!!

    Happy Birthday Benjamin!

    ReplyDelete
  3. KrisFebruary 23, 2011 at 4:01 PM

    That song was beautiful. Thank you for sharing that even with those of us who have never met you. I know your son is smiling down on you from Heaven.

    ReplyDelete
  4. KarenFebruary 23, 2011 at 5:50 PM

    I love that Tony caught that moment. It made me happy for you and yet cry today just to read about it. My heart still hurts for you, Jenny. Such a deep loss, and yet we grieve as those who have hope. I can't imagine the pain if we never thought we would see them again. Thank you, Jesus, for that sweet comfort. I hope your weekend is sweet and poignant and comforting.
    Much love to the whole family on this special day when a special boy came into the world for a brief but glorious life.
    My heart is with yours, Karen

    ReplyDelete
  5. KimFebruary 23, 2011 at 9:24 PM

    happy birthday to your dear ben.... and lots of hugs from my family to yours :)

    ReplyDelete

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