Bittersweet Moments

My blog entry today falls on a very special day for us - Owen's birthday. Today Owen turns four.

We started the day with an unusually long sleep-in (very rare in our house) and then we caught up on a birthday message that had come in while we were still sleeping. While getting to the new message, we first listened to an old message that Mike, Sarah and Lucas (Emily was too young to speak) had left on Owen's second birthday singing Happy Birthday. Ken attached the voicemail message in an earlier blog entry, but we've attached it again below for those who missed it the first time.

The new message was from Sarah, Lucas and Emily singing Happy Birthday to Owen - a bittersweet moment hearing Emily singing Happy Birthday to Owen for the first time, but without the accompaniment of her dad.

Life has been full of bittersweet moments since Mike's death. I often find my emotions move from extreme joy when watching Owen and Ken play together to profound sadness when I think of Lucas and Emily not having the same opportunity to play with their dad.

Owen's personality has really developed in the past year. He has become an outgoing little boy who loves to goof around. His outgoing personality and goofy antics remind us of Mike - neither Ken or I are particularly outgoing or goofy. Ken sometimes gets embarrassed when Owen initiates long conversations with neighbours and acts goofy in front of others, but I take it all in stride. Having grown up with an outgoing, goofy older brother, I watch with bittersweet pleasure.