Dear Drew,

It was 33 years ago today that I received a call at work telling me I was a new Aunt to a beautiful baby boy named Andrew, Drew for short. It wasn’t but a few days later that I saw the first pictures of your sweet face and your brown hair sticking straight up. You were only a few days old and already you had your own mascot, the hedgehog.

It’s your Birthday today, and I am thinking back on all the birthdays that we missed celebrating with you because you lived so far away. On the summers that you did come to the Jersey Shore, I loved our family’s double birthday celebration for you and Connor. I don’t think the party was ever on August 20th, but it was close enough. Finding a gift for you was always a challenge, but the boardwalk never failed to provide an ample array of colorful T-shirts and trinkets for little boys.

We all miss you so much, but your kind and gentle sprit is with us on this day and everyday.

With love,

Aunt Beth

Dear Drew,

Happy happy birthday. When I think about the summers of my childhood, I remember our whole family gathered together: the laughter, the games, and the excitement of us all being together. I hope those celebrations we had there at the beach of your birthday felt doubly fun: a bithday in the UK at the proper time and a bithday with your American family, where we so much loved having all of you at the other side of the pond.

I wish we could do that again this year, gather at the shore with sand in our toes and sunburned despite all of the time we spent at the arcade. Of course we can’t, for so many reasons, but it’s still a wonderful image to hold onto and imagine, formed from August memories that we all cherish. In lieu of you being here, we have to hold a different kind of surrogate celebration of you, drawing on those memories of the ways you made us laugh, or think, or imagine.

Love always,

Catherine

Hello Drew,

Happy Birthday! I’ll be thinking of you today and about the great times I was fortunate enough to share with you. I will never forget seeing you at the beach on the Boardwalk and visiting you in England. Though I was only eight on the earliest visit I can recall, I still remember how it felt to play Magic with you in that Friday Night Magic tournament. It is amazing to me how vivid that memory is, given that many of the famed tourist attractions in London and Paris I saw are now just blurs in my mind, if not entirely forgotten. I am also happy to say that I still have the cards from that night, which have turned out to be far a more valuable memento than I could have ever imagined.

I had not realized how lucky I was then to have a cousin willing to spend his Friday night keeping an eight year old entertained and engaged. At the time, it did not occur to me that there are many other fun ways to keep a twenty year old occupied on a Friday night. However, being the ever patient and kind person that you were, I could not have been more oblivious of this fact. I am glad that other children got to experience these shining aspects of your brilliant character in the classroom and during your tutor sessions.

Of course, any who have had the privilege to know you understand that this Friday was not unique for you. You were always ready to engage with me, even when I was too young to be very engaging, and for this I will always be grateful. Since you’ve been gone, I find myself occasionally lapsing into daydreams of playing chess with you at the beach (and how long it took you to make each move) and our great talks. As I have grown older, I only now realize that the times spent in Ocean City were some of the fondest I have of my childhood, and they would not have been the same without you. I am happy to reflect upon them today and always.

With lot of love,

Alex