"Happy Birthday, From Todd"

by Kay Heitsch

It was November 17th, Todd's birthday. It didn't matter how many years had gone by since Todd's death; his birthday was still a memorable but sad day for me.

I slowly walked down to the mailbox at the end of the driveway. I was feeling pretty low even though I was trying to keep a positive outlook. I took out the mail from the box and walked up the hill towards the house.

As I sorted through the mail, I saw a letter from The Peale Center. "What on earth could this be?" I wondered. I opened the letter and read, "Dr. Peale would like permission to print your letter "In Loving Memory of Todd" as the Introduction in a hardback edition of "Have A Great Day-Every Day!"

I could hardly believe it! I'd given the paperback book "Have A Great Day!" to Todd's friends and family in memory of him after his death. This book was very special to Todd and to me. After Todd's death, I'd found several of the daily readings from this book in a journal he'd kept for a class project.

The timing of this letter was perfect! Here it had arrived right on Todd's birthday. What better gift could I ever give Todd than to continue to allow the Lord to bring something positive out of his death?

Thank you, Lord, for yet another opportunity. * "Have a Great Day-Everyday!" was the Loyalty Month book in 1991. This hardback, positive thought for the daybook can be ordered from: The Peale Center 66 East Main Street Pauling, NY 12564 (1.866.713.7278) The letter that I wrote about my son, Todd, is registered as the Introduction in this book on Page 8.