04/16/2026
The measure of a life is not its length, but the love it leaves behind – and grief is simply the echo of that love.
Birthdays don’t stop just because someone is no longer here…they just change.
Today, Sean would be 37.
There’s something about birthdays that brings it all back. The joy of who he was, and the ache of all that we didn’t get to see. Living without him is surely the hardest thing we’ve ever had to do. Keeping his memory alive has been key to our survival. Often that means sharing billions of photos on Facebook or sending all of you messages via email. Thank you for being part of our healing.
It feels impossible that we’ve now lived more years without him than with him…gone longer than we had him. That sentence doesn’t feel like it should be true. And yet, his life continues to echo in everything. In the way we love, in the memories that surface when we least expect them, in the quiet moments where his presence somehow feels near.
Grief has taught me that love doesn’t end – it stretches. It reaches across time, across absence, across all the “what should have been” moments. Today, we’re choosing to celebrate the 18 years we were given – to remember his laugh, his impact, and the way he changed us forever. To hold both…the sorrow, and the gratitude. Grief has a way of reminding us just how deeply we love.
I’ll let myself feel it all today – the ache, the gratitude, the memories, even the smiles that sneak in because every bit of it is rooted in love for our son.
There won’t be a lipstick birthday message on his mirror this morning, or a cinnamon roll with a candle at breakfast. There won’t be a scavenger hunt this evening for him to search out his birthday gifts…with lame clues that I always tried to make rhyme. Thirty-seven clues would be a challenge, but I’d happily do it.
We carry him with us – in the way that we love, in the way we remember, in the way we hold tight to the people around us. And we see his heart still beating on in The Sean Medical Center in Uganda – his legacy, serving and helping thousands upon thousands of people. That was Sean’s heart…to love, to give, and to make a difference that would outlive him.
Thank you to all of you who help make that happen through your generous giving to The Sean Medical Center. You’re all ROCK STARS and we appreciate you keeping the legacy alive.
Happy birthday to our hilarious, sometimes mysterious, full of heart and compassion for the underdog, son…You are our inspiration and we love you forever and always. Mom and Dad
P.S. Hope your calendars are marked for Sunday, May 3, for our Partner Appreciation Bash. We want to say thank you one more time before we head back to Uganda!
Causeway Center – 3624 Causeway Blvd., Tampa 33619. 3-5pm. Let me know if you can make it. Or not!
