Yesterday was Ella’s third birthday. It has been just over one month since Ella went to be with God. This past weekend, Sarah and I traveled back to Michigan to see my friends and family (I was born and raised in the Detroit area). A really good high school friend of mine, Joseph Ritter, took it upon himself to organize a fundraiser tailgate before the University of Michigan vs Michigan State football game on Saturday afternoon. This was the first time that Sarah and I had left the Kansas City area since we had moved here last year (Ella was diagnosed three months after we had moved to KC). We were very excited to leave town, but it was so sad because this was our first trip in three years without Ella. Before we left town, Sarah and I made sure to visit Ella at the cemetery as it helps bring us peace. Though Ella is no longer physically with us, it was hard to leave the KC area; we felt as if we were leaving Ella behind. Once we visited Ella, we hit the road and completed our 11-hour road trip to Michigan. It is always good to see family and we were able to see my parents, my brother and sister-in-law, and our nephews. Our nephews are still toddlers and are so full of energy. They bring Sarah and I so much joy and seeing them was so much fun. Our oldest nephew spent the entire night immersed in the Halloween spirit and did his best putting on his own “scary house.” The imagination of toddlers is amazing and we had a blast.
On Saturday, Sarah and I went to Ann Arbor for the UofM tailgate fundraiser. Upon arrival, so many great friends greeted us. Thank you to everyone that made the trip to Ann Arbor and thank you so much for all of the support. Thank you to Jerry Sprague for the phenomenal entertainment (Jerry played at a bar called Mitch’s on Tuesday nights when we were in college). So many of the songs that he played brought back such great memories and it was just perfect. A big, “THANK YOU,” to Joseph Ritter and Jennifer Garcia for putting together such a great event for us. It was so much fun to see friends that I haven’t seen in over ten years.
Sarah and I returned to the KC area on Sunday, as Ella’s birthday was Monday. Yesterday, Sarah and I went to visit Ella as we normally do. This time, we came to the cemetery with a few different things namely, balloons and Chick-Fil-A. Ella absolutely loved balloons and so we made sure to buy her some birthday balloons. As many of you know, Ella was obsessed with Chick-Fil-A, so Sarah and I had chicken for lunch and had a picnic with Saint Ella. We concluded Ella’s birthday with a small dinner party consisting of Ella’s grandparents, great-aunt and great-uncle, and her cousins. It was a great day and I’m sure Ella would have loved every second of her birthday.
We are sure that Ella was right there with us during our whole trip and especially during her birthday. As we were driving to Michigan, Sarah and I both felt tugs on our hair. We laughed and both believe that it was Ella telling us that she was with us. Today, we visited Ella at the cemetery and her balloons bonked me in the head. I’m sure Ella was laughing, as she loved to “bonk dada” (one of the last things that Ella said was that she wanted to “go upstairs and bonk dada”). Her birthday was a very hard day for me emotionally, but these signs that she is with us, helps ease some of the pain.
It has been just over one month since Ella passed. Sarah and I still have good days and bad days. Some days, it’s just so hard to do anything and we miss her so much. Other days are filled with a feeling of nothingness…just numb. We still can’t believe that Ella is no longer with us physically and we miss her so much. I tear up just typing these words.
Thanks you to everyone for the continued support. We found so much love and support in our Facebook feeds yesterday. Thank you for the beautiful birthday messages for Ella. Please continue to pray for Ella’s friends Malina, Joe, Jonah, Blake, Brysin, and those not named here. These kids are still fighting and need our support. Thank you again, we love you all. God bless! Saint Ella, pray for us.