When I first started dating my husband, he had a 2-year-old nephew, AJ. An active little boy with sparkling eyes and a mischievous smile. I fell for that little boy before I fell for my husband!
AJ spent a weekend with us when we first got married. We took him to Liberty Science Center and fed him PB&J sandwiches in front of cartoons. We had a blast!
When we had our first child, we moved four hours away from AJ. Luckily, we still saw him (and the rest of the family) for holidays – and he spent a week here or there with us during school vacations. My boys adore their big cousin. They built a snowman together, went sledding, watched movies, played with trains. My guys climbed all over him, brought him to their swim lessons, shared their favorite foods and movies.
Now, AJ is a grown man in the military, stationed thousands of miles away. He calls each of us on our birthday, as well as me on Mother’s Day and my husband on Father’s Day. He asks about my writing and always says he’s going to read my books. He’s interested in the things we all do. The adorable little boy with sparkling eyes and a mischievous smile has grown into an amazing man, who is about to go on his first overseas deployment to protect our country and all the people he loves.
I have always been a bleeding heart idealist, but…
I couldn’t be more proud of him.
And I hope he returns to us, safe and sound, very soon.
Godspeed, AJ. We love you.
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