Missed moments

Junior year.
Shopping for school clothes.
Old friends.
New friends.
Varsity tennis.
Marching band
Jersey Giant: The Boss.
Pool shark.
What's his new thing this year?
Element.
Young Life club.
Bible study with the Holt crew.
Taking piano lessons.
Designated Survivor w/ dad.
Gilmore Girls w/ mom.
Minecraft.
Ultimate frisbee.
College applications.
Mochas.
The Walking Dead, season 8.
Young Life Fall Weekend.
The Punisher.
Yellow.
Teaching piano lessons.
Ping Pong w/ dad.
Coffee w/ mom.
Mercilessly picking on Sam.
Toy Story II action game w/ Jay.
Star Wars: Episode VIII.
Yet another rubix cube.
Winterfest.
Pep band.
Work Crew training.
Solo and ensemble.
Summer plans.
Can't wait for Incredibles II!
Can't wait for...

Six months ago today, Luke passed away, leaving behind a tremendous legacy and a bunch of broken hearts.  We miss him so much.  We miss who he was, we miss who he was becoming, we miss the experiences we would have had with him.

The picture below is from two years ago in March.  Luke was in the midst of inpatient chemo, preparing for six weeks of daily radiation treatments, and his brothers had made a rare trip over to the hospital to see him.  He had just completed a flawless performance on the piano in the state solo ensemble competition, receiving the highest possible score.  It was one of my proudest moments as a dad, watching Luke bravely enter that school full of kids, exhausted and bald from treatment, everyone staring at his missing leg, and then watching the look of surprised delight on the judge's face when he began playing.  When he was finished, the judge stood and clapped, and said to Luke, "I love it!!"

We loved it too.

We are so proud of who Luke was, so proud of who he was becoming, and, yes, we so deeply miss the experiences we would have had with him.

God bless,
James & Lu
(for Sam, Jay, and Luke)