Our Son Jonathan

I was young, too young honestly when I had Jonathan.  My pregnancy was my biggest challenge I had ever faced.  That pregnancy turned out to be my greatest gift.  Jonathan made me a mom.  The single most important thing to me in the entire world.  He was perfect in my eyes.  He was such a happy little guy from the beginning.  He was my buddy and he went everywhere with me.  Everyone that met Jonathan instantly fell in love with him.  He made it easy.  As he (and I) grew up, I recognized that he was special.  I know, I know…every mom thinks their child is special…but Jonathan always had a quiet strength about him.  He just had that “thing” that you can’t quite put into words, but yet everyone sees it.  He was kind, compassionate, witty, and so smart.  He would spout out random facts and thoughts and I would just sit there thinking, wow…this kid amazes me.  He had a quirky sense of humor and he always made me smile.  He was kind, even when frustrated or if someone hurt his feelings.  He was gracious, which in this world is no easy feat. He was the BEST big brother ever.  He had tremendous patience with Emma, Ben and Sophie.  He was always game for jumping on the trampoline, playing hide and seek, letting them crawl all over him and babysitting.  As a parent, I think often the mentality is that we teach our children, and that is true.  But the one thing I’ve come to realize since April 6, is that Jonathan taught me.  He taught me to be kind, to be patient, and to be understanding of others.  I will be forever grateful that God chose me to care for Jonathan for those 17 years, 7 months, and 11 days.  I cherish every single second I had with him.  My only wish is that I had more time, but God had other plans that one day I will understand.  Now that Jonathan isn’t here, I feel so strongly that it’s my job to take his gifts and share them with you.  I was always telling Jonathan to put himself out there and take advantage of everything that life had to offer, I think it’s time I listened to myself and this is my opportunity to do it #4jonny. I want my son to be remembered for who he was, because he didn’t get enough time to leave his mark on this world.  I have no doubt it would have been one heck of a mark.