Seven...SEVEN!!
It's here. Eli's big day. Today, Eli turns 7 years old. The feelings and emotions I have for this day are overwhelming. It's been a long, long 7 years, but I can remember this day in 2006 like it was yesterday...and the months to follow. They are etched in my memory with Sharpie...never fading. Some of the memories, honestly, I wish I could erase. The hurtful ones. Some I've written about on this blog, but most I keep hidden. We hosted a birthday party for Eli on Saturday. He invited his entire regular class and his entire special needs class to his party. I began first thing in the day warning Eli that he might not have a lot of kids come. I wanted him to be prepared for the worst. Though Eli was confident his friends would come...I wasn't sure. When party time arrived, five precious kids came to celebrate Eli's birthday. I was relieved and Eli had a marvelous time with those five great kids. That same day, we had a family celebration where we all doted on El