Year 3 without James.  Our days have been much better and thinking of James brings a smile to our faces.  Sure, our hearts are still heavy that he is no longer with us, but the thought of him also brings joy.  To sum it up, it’s bittersweet.  Same goes for this past year.  Hailey and Elle are both growing so fast!  The first, a maturing teenager and the second, a walking and babbling toddler.  Seeing them grow up makes us very happy, but it also brings a little bit of sadness thinking of what could have been with James.  Each time Elle reaches a new milestone, we cheer and celebrate.  The first time she laughs, the first time she crawls, her first tooth, her first steps... so many firsts.  We are filled with joy, but we are also reminded of the fact that we never will be able to have these experiences with James.  This doesn’t take away from Hailey and Elle.  Instead, it reminds us to appreciate what is here and now.  To hold on to what we have in front of us.  More importantly to be present, be in the moment and give it our undivided attention when possible.  We thank James for that, teaching us to be grateful for what we do have because you never know what tomorrow will bring.

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This past year we remembered James through many events.  In March, we attended the A Memory Grows 5k and had our Games for James softball tournament.  In August, we had a reunion in Granbury with our friends from our AMG group to catch up and celebrate AMG and the children that have brought us together.  In October, we lit a candle for an hour at the Wave of Light service in Fort Worth in memory of James and other babies who left us too soon.  Just a few weeks ago, we celebrated what would have been James’ 3rd birthday by putting together birthday boxes to donate to Hope Supply to be distributed to homeless children.  His aunts brought over flowers and a lot of his favorite treats that he loved so much when he was in his mom’s belly, such as sprinkles cupcakes and pumpkin pie!! 

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Our most memorable event from last year was our Games for James tournament.  Unexpectedly, the weather dropped the night prior to our event and game day was cold, windy, and part of the day, wet!  We thought that we may have to cancel if not enough people showed up.  It touched our hearts to see players still coming to play.  They braved the bad weather and stuck it out through the entire tournament, freezing hands and all! Some who weren’t playing showed up in support as well. We are so grateful to everyone who helped in making Games for James successful!

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Lastly, we would like to thank our family who played a huge part with Games for James and who have been there for us through it all.  They stood by our side through the good and bad, through the crazy and the scary.  As hard as things were at certain times in the past few years, they never wavered.  Even if they didn’t understand why or what we were feeling, they waited patiently to support in whatever way they could.  To this day, they continue to do so.  From the bottom of our hearts, thank you Lan, Linh, Helen, Alan, RT, Dan, Binh, Phuong, Huong, and William.  Thank you for helping us honor James.  

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