Happy Birthday, Vitaliy!

Dear Vitaliy,

Every time your birth­day rolls around, we get to cel­e­brate and thank the Lord for bless­ing you with good health and another year of life. And this year is no excep­tion. But while every­one is hud­dled around your birth­day cake with the glow of birth­day can­dles shin­ing on their faces and the birth­day song being sung loudly, I am secretly thank­ing the Lord for another year of life with you. I know its self­ish, but it is true. Each birth­day to me means I just had another year of life with you and that for me is some­thing to cel­e­brate. You are some­thing to celebrate!

And this year, I’d like to cel­e­brate your thought­ful­ness. I have never met some­one who is as thought­ful as you and I want you to know that I notice it and I am thank­ful for it. Just this week, you came home with a sur­prise gift for my mom — a plant spray to kill the bugs that are ruin­ing her plants. You lis­tened to my mom’s con­cerns for weeks and in your own time and your own way, you thought about her needs and did your best to attend to them. It was absolutely unex­pected and so thought­ful. Because that’s just the per­son you are — thought­ful, spon­ta­neous, and meaningful.

I think back to the book sale you went to a few weeks ago. You had waited weeks and were so excited to go to it. I thought for sure you would bring home a boat load of old books. You are always good at find­ing the gems. You walked through the door and I eagerly waited like a school girl wait­ing to play “Show and Tell”. And as I looked, I saw you held only two books in your hand. One for me and one for Leska. It melted my heart and reminded me why I’m the luck­i­est girl in the world.

Vitaliy, I am so thank­ful for every year that I get to grow old with you. We are not promised any cer­tain amount of years on this Earth so each one I get to spend with you — I count it a bless­ing. I hope to give you another year full of laugh­ter, love, and lots of hugs and kisses because you deserve it all and more. I love you!

Your babes,
Candace

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Here is the birth­day boy him­self! These are two of my favorite pic­tures of Vitaliy as a baby. The left because you just want to squeeze him and the right because its so Ukrain­ian with the head scarf. Notice the pink out­fit on the left and the flow­ers on the right. Priceless!