Happy 22nd Birthday Josh

Josh would be twenty-two today.  I spent some time over the weekend thinking about 22 things that I remember and miss most since he's been gone.   Some made me smile, other memories brought tears.

Written to him in my weekly letter:

Josh,
In honor of your upcoming birthday, here are the 22 things that I remember and miss about you…

1. your smirk
2. your well-timed, funny, zingy comments
3. the sound of your slippered feet shuffling on the floor
4. your deep, manly voice
5. waking you up in the morning for the 1st time
6. …and 2nd time
7. …and 3rd & 4th time (it was actually very annoying but I miss it now)
8. your humming while in the shower
9. how you looked over my shoulder while I was preparing dinner…sniffing and commenting on how good it smelled
10. how you liked to eat grilled cheese sandwiches with salsa
11. your go-to after school snack - 2 packages of ramen
12. my weekly washing of your nasty football practice uniform
13. my washing of your game day uniform by which I could tell what happened (where you fell on the ground, etc)
14. teaching you how to drive
15. going shopping together for clothes, shoes, sports gear
16. how if I took you to the grocery store, all sorts of miscellaneous, random items would end up in the shopping cart
17. you sleeping on the couch with Buddy and Benji
18. you sleeping on car rides, listening to your iPod
19. watching Patriots games together
20. the marathon watching of 24 we did one summer
21. chilling in the pool
22. and even your reprimands of "chill out mom!"

RIP.

Love,

Mom