Avi would have been a beloved uncle.

As Avi's nephew grows, I think of how much of a fun uncle Avi would have been to him. He was always good with small children, as was Menachem.

This past Shabbat was the Hebrew anniversary of Avi's bar mitzvah, Mikeitz. Keeping up the tradition in his memory, I layned the entire portion, but not quite as well as Avi had done.

The meaning in a previous post of, "May you live to be 136":
The sum of the traditional blessing of 120 years added to the age that Avi did not make - 16.

The bereavement support group of Connecticut Children's Medical Center last month sent us a notice for their December 3 holiday program, giving parents the opportunity to work together on a photo book featuring their lost children. We couldn't attend, but at least I appreciated the effort. The letter, however, was a trigger...

Last Saturday night was Avi's Hebrew birthday. This Saturday would have been his 17th birthday on the civil calendar.

Knowing myself, Avi and I would most likely have been battling over his secular schoolwork, Judaism, driving privileges, as well as over many of the other demands that teenage boys make. I would rather have endured those battles than not having Avi at all.