Happy Birthday Catie!

    

I love you very much.  I miss you so much that it still hurts sometimes.  Thank you for being with us all day.  When I woke up this morning, M.E. and I sang Happy Birthday to you.  She of course added the “cha, cha, chas”.  She talks about you constantly.  She will say, “Mom, can I have a donut, Catie says I should.”  You continue to be a terrific big sister to her.  Thanks to thousands of people, we really honored your special day.  Your first wish, that calendars across the country would be colored purple, was realized on thousands of calendars this year.  We have not gotten every calendar yet, but we are working on it.  As for the second wish, to treat all of the patients and staff at St. Jude, we made it!  You paid for everything today, every treatment, every salary, even the electrical bill.  Kids are still getting cancer, and some of them are still dying, but thanks to you and your selfless wish, some progress was made today.  We will keep trying until no more kids have to go through what you went through.  You also asked us to pray, and thousands of kids and adults across the country did just that today.  They put aside their own wants and desires and asked God to help Catie’s kids and their families.  Thousands more prayed for the doctors, nurses and others who care for these kids with cancer.  We are trying Catie, we really are. 

      We lit up your house and a building in Philadelphia for you today as well.  We used purple because you loved it so much.  Did you see the lights from heaven?  Tomorrow is Mia’s First Holy Communion and she is a little nervous.  Can you be with her and help her to realize that she will be closer to Jesus when she receives Him, and that when she does, she will be touching heaven and you.  I remember how wonderful you felt after you received Him for the first time, and I pray that Mia will feel just as wonderful.  I am sure there are more things that I should tell you, mostly I figure you know what is in my heart anyway so I don’t have to write it to you.  You know how much I love you, and you know how much I want to hold you just one more time.  I want to dance with you just one more dance and see your smile one more time.  But that is not the plan, so I will keep going to sleep and waiting to see you in my dreams and going to mass and feel you on the altar.  Most of all, I will keep experiencing you in each person I meet who knew you and loves you.  I see you in Molly and in M.E., I see your peace on Max when he knows you are with him.  I see you in Mia as she becomes a great big sister.  She even wrote a song for you, have you heard her singing it?  I see you in Maggie when she does something she would not normally do, just because it is the right thing to do.  And I see you so much in your mom.  I love her so much Cate and I want her to know that without any doubts.  Please help me be as good a husband and friend to her as I can be.  She misses you a lot, and there is a hole in her heart that I can’t fill.  Please keep her safe and help her to know that as special as my little girl is, her mom is even more so.  She did more to make all of your wishes come true than anyone and I am so proud of her.

I am going to go to bed now beautiful, we will see you later this morning at the Communion.  I know you would never miss it!

Know that I love you always and that is never going to change!

Dad

PS – we gave birthday gifts to everyone we knew who had the same birthday as you.

One Response to “Happy Birthday Catie!”

  1. Molly Walloch says:

    Happy Birthday, Catie!!

    I thought of you…and your mom and dad today…your whole family misses you so much.

    Please continue to keep watch over all who love you down here…we all need an angel on our shoulder :)