Celebrating Zachary and Ethan

On January 6th of last year my dear friend Sarah gave birth to twin boys, Zachary and Ethan. They were born at 28 weeks gestation (normal is 40 weeks) due to the fact that the bag of waters around Ethan had been leaking for 10 weeks. Sarah endured a lot in those 10 weeks including bed rest and a 4 week hospitalization. Both boys were very small when they were born and rushed to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the hospital where they were attended to by their mom and dad as well as some of the most gifted doctors and nurses in the city.

Sadly, the struggle for life was just too much for little Ethan and he passed a way on January 7, 2007...one year ago.

Zachary has thrived - he is a normally developing one year old who has the most amazing eyes you've ever seen. His mom calls him a superstar and that title is so very accurate for this little man. He is a wonderful child. Yesterday we joined in the celebration of Zachary's first year. Their house was filled with people who love Zack and were eager to party in honor of his birthday.

Then today, with a smaller group we joined in on the celebration of Ethan. We went to a local park and after Sarah and her mom read a Jewish prayer of mourning in Hebrew balloons were released. Even the weather was perfect...it was warm and cloudy with some peeks of blue in the sky. It seemed to be saying that it understood what was going on. Zack held onto the balloons with his mom and dad and when they said so he let go and then we all watched as they soared into the heavens...a birthday present for an angel baby who was with us for far too short a time.

Happy Birthday to the little superstar, Zack and also to his angel brother, Ethan.