Happy 17th Birthday, Simon Craig Vodosek! (part 1)

What would those missing ten years bring to the boy we knew and loved so well? I would so dearly love to know him now. Sometimes, I dare just a little to imagine. Here's what I picture today.

Simon loves taking the vineyard hills on his bicycle. He has a tip now and then on schoolwork for his sister. He makes his friends laugh. He makes all of us laugh. He would want something with strawberries today. And chocolate. I would wish him a growing sense of where to take his life after high school. I would trust he still knows how to have fun. I would wish him his dream date for the formal dance. A strong body and a clear mind. And lots, lots, lots of love.

I posted a birthday photo review on May 16, 2011. Here are some different photos to remember Simon.

May 17, 1997 in Ann Arbor, Michigan with doula Bonnie Marquis

Happy Simon, November 1999 in Oberlin, Ohio

Pensive Simon, July 2000 at Gari Stein's drumming circle in Ann Arbor

Big brother Simon, November 2000 in Ann Arbor

Simon's 7th birthday in Salt Lake City in 2004
reading treasure hunt clues
(this is the tie-dye T-shirt I've written about)

Birthday party, May 17, 2004
(technically it was May 15)
Simon's last