Instead of Scentsy, this blog is personal.

Today would have been my nephew’s 21st birthday. I remember his mom coming to my house (which was closer to the hospital than her’s at 45 minutes away) to “wait to see if this was labor”. He came into this world loved by so many and left being loved by so many more.

May 26, 2007 will be a day that changed our lives forever. In a tragic accident, we lost our nephew, my brother and sister-in-law lost their oldest son and my parents lost a grandson.

Zach was a 12 year old boy full of life. Just the night before we were decorating for a niece’s high school graduation. Our community is VERY SMALL and there were just 4 seniors graduating from the school the next day. My family is VERY CLOSE and we were all out helping to decorate. Zach was using a air compressor to air up balloons. I will never forget the smile on his face as he was doing his “job”. I was “supervising” the decorating as I was playing and holding Zach’s 6 month old sister. Well, Zach accidentally popped one of the balloons and it startled his baby sister. I said, “Be careful Zach, you don’t want another to pop and scare Ella.” Well, with that mischievous smile he could have, he put another balloon on the hose and ever so slowly and with intent, he would put in a HUGE burst of air. He wasn’t be naughty – he was having fun and enjoying life. And for the record, he never popped another balloon the whole night.

My son was 10 months older than Zach and they were like brothers. They spent so much time with each other – either at our house or at my brother’s. They spent many hours playing, being mischievous, picking on their siblings, and planning. They planned – when they graduated, they were going on a road trip and when they were able to go to prom one of them would take Katie. Well, Zach went home to be with the Lord too soon to see either plan but Wesley held up his side and when he was able to go to prom, his date was Katie. There were tears of remembering but they had a fun night. The road trip I hope will come this next summer. We still have the “red van” that trip was to take place in but I think it will stay here as Wesley and his cousins go on the trip. 🙂

Zach also had a contagious laugh. Shortly after he died, his mom found a voice recording of him on her computer. She shared it with us and what a laugh. I still listen to is every once in a while just to hear his voice and laugh and to remember.

You know, Zach wasn’t here on earth for long – only 12 years. But he left an impact on us all. He loved life, he loved his family (especially his baby sister), and he LOVED baseball.

I wonder what he would be doing if he were still here. Would he be playing baseball at a college somewhere? Would he be a fun-loving joking young man? These are questions that won’t be answered but it’s okay. The memories will never fade.

I am writing this one just to remember Zach and the special boy he was and to encourage us all to love those around us everyday. We never know what each day holds and each day is a gift.

#memories #remembering