Samantha 13th June 2011

Today is a very emotional day for me because today is Jack's birthday. 13th June. If he were here, he'd be blowing out eleven candles on his cake and I would watch him open the newest PSP game I bought him to celebrate. But unfortunately, that's not how things happened. Today, he is celebrating his eleventh birthday with all of the other DPG (Diffuse Pontine Glioma) kids who earned their wings and went to Heaven. This is now the second time I have had to spend Jack's birthday without him. Last year, Jack's family and friends celebrated on Porthtowen Beach. We wrote message on balloons and let them float up to the sky until they went out of sight and right up to heaven for Jack to catch. Today me and my family are meeting at Boscawen Park, where Jack loved to play and learned to ride his bike. We have a bench in memory of Jack and scattered his ashes at the park and we are going to light sky lanterns and then have a drink to toast him. While today I can only wish him a happy birthday in my prayers and in my dreams, I know on one very special day we will be together again and he won't waste much time bossing me around. It's hard to forget that Diffuse Pontine Glioma is a disease that also brings a lot of pain to the children who have it and the family and friends who love them. But he is in a place free of illness and pain. So today I remember Jack and all the children who have passed away, from this terrible disease.