Remembering Someone Very Special

Today is a special day.  It is the 49th birthday of our son Matthew.  However, Matthew is celebrating his 49th birthday in heaven, where he has been "living" for the past almost 8 years.  I am not writing about this to ask for sympathy...mainly I just want to remember a wonderful son on his birthday. I want to continue to celebrate the life he lived and give thanks to the Lord that we were allowed to have him here with us for 41 years.  During that time he blessed our lives, and the lives of everyone who knew him, with so much joy.  His life was a constant testimony to the love and grace of God, because there were so many times that Matthew could have been taken home to heaven long before his 41st birthday. But God, in His mercy and grace, had a wonderful purpose for his life here and we were the thankful recipients of that blessing.

I know I've shared this family picture many times before, but it is the last family portrait we have of us together, taken in February of 2014, when we celebrated Matthew's 41st birthday with all the family.

This was our immediate family at that time, including my sweet mother in law, Nanny. (She entered heaven's gates in August of 2018).

Front row is my hubby John, me, Nanny.

Back row: our grandson Noah, our son Benton, our son Scott, and our son Matthew, and his wife Nicole.

It was so wonderful that much of our extended family on both sides came to celebrate with us. This picture is the Steiner side of the family. My hubby's brother Bill and his wife Peggy and their two children Shannon and Nicholaus were there too.

And this picture is the Mursch (my side) of the family. I was so pleased that both of my brothers and their wives and my sister and her husband and their two kids were also able to be there. My brother Russell (2nd row, far left), has now also joined heaven's band, in April of 2019.

Here's Matthew blowing  out the candles...

And here he is, after he blew out the candles on his birthday cake. He was always the cut-up.

I love looking at these pictures because it brings back all the happy memories of that day. We had a wonderful time together, never allowing ourselves to think  of the possibility that just three months later, on May 25th, 2014, he would end his battle with cancer and enter heaven, totally set free from the pain and suffering he had endured for the previous four years.

You can't really tell from the previous picture of his birthday cake, but this little fisherman in the boat was a decoration on that cake. Matthew loved to fish, and that's why I wanted to save this little figure to keep on my kitchen countertop in front of one of my favorite pictures of Matthew.  

Here's a few pictures of him when he was visiting us a couple of years before the previous pictures.

He was enjoying the rare opportunity to fish with his brothers:

Happy Memories.

This is one of my favorite pictures of when we went to Maine to visit Matthew and his family. This was in 2013:

John, Me, Noah, Matthew, and Nicole

We tried to take a picture at this same scenic overlook every time we visited up there.

I guess I should stop with the pictures now...I could fill up the whole internet with pictures if I keep it up. I guess this is one reason why I love to take pictures so much. Our families are important to us. And someday, when pictures are all you have left to remember them by, those pictures become pretty important.

One thing we have tried to do each year since Matthew died is plant something in memory of him in our Memorial Garden. However, we moved a couple of years ago and so we had to leave a lot of things behind. I've talked about this before so I won't go back over it, but anyway, yesterday hubby and I planted a little bottlebrush bush in memory of Matthew.

Here's hubby digging the hole in the ground to plant it.

And there it is. It doesn't look like much right now, but hopefully it will grow and blossom this spring and summer. We chose a bottlebrush bush because it will attract hummingbirds and butterflies once it starts blooming. I will keep you posted on its progress.

This is looking back toward the "Memorial Garden". It looks pretty dry and unproductive right now. Hopefully this summer I will be able to get some more flowers and things growing there to make it worthy of being a true garden. HERE is a link to when we established this Memorial Garden at this house a couple of years ago.  

Okay, it's time to publish this post and get ready for bed. It's been a long day. We actually had a very nice day, and took a nice ride to St. Augustine, but I will save that story for tomorrow's post.  I just wanted to do this today in memory of Matthew.  It's probably more for my sake than for any other reason. It helps me to keep track of the years better if I write about it.  Thank you for reading and sharing these memories with me.

Here is a favorite scripture passage that has comforted me throughout these years...God comforts all who mourn... see Isaiah 61:2-4  

"To comfort all who mourn,

3 To console those who mourn in Zion,

To give them beauty for ashes,

The oil of joy for mourning,

The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;

That they may be called trees of righteousness,

The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

And Psalm 30:5 says:

"Weeping may endure for a night,

But joy comes in the morning."

I am thankful for the joy that comes in remembering the good times and the sweet memories of our son's life. He will always be missed, but I know He's alive and well in heaven, and that gives me great peace.

Remember to forgive while you can...and always tell your loved ones that you love them every opportunity you can.  Make the opportunity. You'll never regret that.

Good night my friends.