Happy Birthday Henry

Henry's 15th year began as a gray and drizzly day.

On his birthday we remember Henry by visiting several memorials we have for him around town. We have his bench at Dolphin Head, a brick with his name at the Arts Center and another at the Children's Memorial Garden.

The local hospital is not a place of fond memories. It was this emergency room where we first leaned of Henry's tumor. It was where the 911 ambulance took him after he lost consciousness from medication. It was where we took Henry after he began hemorrhaging blood.

But on these otherwise tainted grounds is a lovely place where we find some comfort and reflection.


We visited the local high school where Henry would have been this year and were cheered by his friends who remembered him with gray ribbons and some stickers we had made.

This year Henry's birthday fell on the occasion of the local Relay For Life. Through some coincidence, the theme for this year's relay was "Happy Birthday'" meant to signify the new life accorded to cancer survivors. But as we walked the grounds on the day that started so dreary, and saw the birthday candles on the cupcakes, the banners calling out "Happy Birthday," and joined the assemblage on this now beautiful, cool evening as they sang the well-worn tune, we couldn't help but sense an invisible nod to Henry's day.

"Happy Birthday, Dear Henry, Happy Birthday to You..."