THOUGHTS ABOUT A NEW DECADE

April 24, 2026
I turned 40 on April 8th. I love birthdays and love celebrating them and this year was no different. I was excited about turning 40 and knew that I was in a really good place in so many areas of my life. But the night before, I had this tiny thought creep in. It was this sense of sadness about leaving the decade I had Brighton in, that I was leaving him behind somehow.  

Shortly after this thought crept in, my friend Kari texted me that Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep had Brighton's story on their blog! Over two years ago, NILMDTS had reached out and asked if I wanted to share our story and of course I said yes. Originally, they were going to post it in 2024. Then, in April of 2025, I reached out to make sure they didn't need anything from me and was told they would post it in May. It never was shared so I had honestly forgotten about it. The fact that they shared it the night before my birthday when I was grieving our son felt like such a sweet, sweet gift from the Lord.

I emailed my contact at NILMDTS and told her the significance of the timing and thanked her giving us the opportunity to share. She responded that my message had given her goosebumps as they had been reworking a lot of things and apologized for taking so long to post it, but that she felt a calling that it was time to share his story. She thanked me for sharing Brighton with the world:)

I sent this to several of my friends that night and one sweet friend in particular said something I'll never forget. She said she knew God had shown me so many glimpses of Brighton in my 30's, but that she just knew that I would see even more of him in my 40's! What assurance and confidence that everything will be ok. 

Here are some screenshots of Brighton's story from their blog. The number of people who commented on their Facebook post was pretty overwhelming in the best of ways. Proud of you sweet boy for continuing to change the world!