Birthday

Today is my nephew's 11th birthday...this morning on the way to work I reflected back on the past 5.5 years. I got a little teary eyed. I almost can't believe that him and my niece have been with us that long and have spent that many birthdays without their parents. It also made me think about how many things in life they still have to go through without their parents...turning 16 and learning how to drive, prom, high school graduation, dating, heartbreaks, marriage, etc. It breaks my heart to know they won't get the normal experience like all their friends, so if I overdue on gifts for their birthdays and Christmas I tell myself it's perfectly ok. So tonight we're going to celebrate and go to dinner at his choice (the local pizza place with all sorts of greasiness...i'll just have to run a little extra!)