Dear Gordon

Dear Gordon,

Christmas was hard this year.  It wasn't the same without your excitement.  We watched the video of you that Uncle Jared made when we first woke up.  It made me cry and smile.  I think we want to watch this video every Christmas.  Then we opened presents.  Neil opened yours.  You got that hot wheels set that you wanted.  Neil and Tegan played with it today.  They fought over the cars even though I bought extras.  After opening presents we went over to Grandma's and Grandpa's house.  We ate Grandma's Christmas trees and eggs.  It was very tasty.  It felt happier when we were over there.  After breakfast everyone sat around and watched movies.  I don't always like to sit around, so I went home and cleaned up.  Aunt Margarita came with me.  She cleaned up the table with all your flowers and cards while I cleaned the kitchen.  Then we went back and had Christmas dinner with all the family.  We sang lots of Christmas songs.  It was happy.  Today I went over and made crepes for breakfast.  I know, you would have loved it.  Then Daddy took Jamin, Harry, and Benson to go play badminton.  Then everyone came over to our house for dinner and we went to see a movie.  We watched The Hobbit.  I didn't enjoy it.  I fell asleep and then the violence really bothered me.  I kept having flashes of the accident.
I love and miss you.
Mom

I Miss You

Gordon -
Gordon was born two weeks late induced.  He loved being in my tummy and did not want to come out.    But when he did, he was so perfect, except for one little squished toe that he had a little too much fun with in my ribs.  We loved him instantly.  He was a very happy baby and had the cutest smiles.  He was always very good at taking naps.  As a toddler, he use to take 4 hour naps.

As he got older, our family grew.  He had a little brother, then a little sister, then another little brother.  Gordon loves babies and each time a new one came around, he loved it.  He was very close with all his siblings.  Gordon wasn't just a brother, he was a friend. 
Neil was closest in age to Gordon, so they shared a room.
Every morning Gordon would start the day singing.  He would sing with Neil and they would talk and be loud.  Then, after some prompting, they would go downstairs and play with blocks, legos, trains, or just go wake up their big brother, Jamin.
He would often help make breakfast.  He loved being able to beat the egg whites for waffles which we have all the time.   His very favourite breakfast was french toast, and he would get so excited when it was made for him.  He would always get so excited about the little things.  Like having a red plate because that was his favorite colour or a new shirt or if I made chicken and perogies for dinner.
Everywhere we went, Gordon was always curious.  He would always say, "What are YOU doing here?" even if it was their house or our house or wherever.  He was not shy.  He would ask a million questions, and wasn't afraid to hug people even if he didn't really know them.
Gordon wanted to be a police officer when he grew up.  I remember taking him to the police station one day to get a police record check and a police officer noticed I had kids and brought some stickers.  Then Gordon started asking questions and another police officer came and another and another till there were about five officers talking to Gordon.  He thought it was the best thing ever.  They gave him stickers and thought they were the coolest.
Gordon loved to go places and do things.  He had this crazy energy.  He would go and go and go.  And then he would ask to go to bed.  He was very bright and I was always amazed how he caught things even though it didn't seem like he was paying attention whatsoever.
I remember going to Gordon's parent/teacher conference.  During the conference, Gordon zipped himself up in his garment bag that he used for his winter stuff with his head poking out and hopped around the room.  His teachers acted like it was completely normal, smiled and said how much they enjoyed Gordon and how he always said the sweetest things.
He loved to draw.  He would tell a story as he drew his pictures.  He loved to draw cars, trains, boats, and airplanes all with their own special gadgets and their own stories.  
Gordon was taking skating and swimming lessons and did music for young children.  He loved all these things.  I enjoyed the time I spent individually with him practicing the piano every day.  It warmed my heart to hear him play.
Every night he always wanted a story and me to sing him Fred Penner's "You are my Sunshine" and his dad would sing his own sunshine song that he made up. It went "Sunshine lollypop, sunshine lollypop, sunshine every day".  Gordon was a ray of sunshine who made everyone smile.  He had the biggest smile and the best hugs.  He had a giant heart and loved unconditionally.
I am so grateful for the 7 years I had with him.  We are all going to miss him so much.  I know some day we'll be with him again.