Today is Joe's birthday. He would be 44, sigh. Thinking back to when he was a little boy I can remember so many things. His easy laugh, the way his eyes lit up, walking Lance or Lance dragging him, following David around, playing with Raul, Lisa, and David, swinging his legs at the kitchen table while doing his homework....

I remember reading The Monster at the End of this Book over and over again to Dave and Joe. They'd laugh at the ending every time. So, for Joe's birthday I'm sharing the youtube video version below. 

Happy Birthday Joe! We love and miss you xoxoxoxox

Well, today is Mother's Day. I miss you. I do have my favorite Mother's Day Card from you. I am thankful that I saved it because I gave it to myself today from you. Thank you for the beautiful card and for loving me. I wish I were the perfect mom and could have given you the world. I'm proud of the person you were here on earth. Your heart was bigger than big. That never changed, regardless of life's circumstance. I know you're in Heaven with family and friends...and Barney, and Keisha, and Hammy, and Sugar...Hope you were watching today as we celebrated with dinner today. Dave, Unjen, Jared, Joey, Jayden, Brian, Mark, myself, and you in spirit. Love you Joey! xoxox 

Well, that explains why he always ate a turkey leg for Thanksgiving!! I forgot all about this! I believe he stayed home that day because he didn't feel very well!!! Thanks for the memory. I was feeling a bit down on Thanksgiving because Joe always came around to cut up the rutabaga or turnips and then he and I ate them. None this year. Every now and then I remember great moments....like the time he and David built a wood fort out back in the wooded area and then made a camp fire inside the fort. Yep. They did that. Or the time I handed Joey our dog Lance on a leash, let him out the back door and told him to take him around the yard for a walk. Next thing I knew I heard a commotion out front, opened the door, and there went Lance dragging Joey behind him - literally - as the dog chased after something or other. Then, when we lived in the land before time aka Citrus County, he took to collecting scorpions, spiders, snakes, rats, etc. and more often than not they got loose in the house. So many smiles (well, most of them)! Miss you so much Joe. xoxox Hugs to mom, grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, and more....

I remember we were eating Thanksgiving at Diane's house. To celebrate we're all going to see Home Alone at the movie theater that night. For some reason Joey was not allowed to go. Probably because he was acting up or did something that day. I mean we were going to take him anyway but I believe we said if you can eat this giant turkey leg will give you $10 so you can go to the movies. Mind you we had already finished eating and it was the only thing left on the table. We were all so stuffed. He ate the whole thing. This thing was straight out of the Flintstones kind of turkey leg. That was a great memory that's stuck with me.

One day grandma prepared dinner for everyone and was just putting everything out on the table when you came running in all excited. You'd been playing out back on Columbia St. with David, Raulito, and Lisa. Anyway, you ran up to the dining table, shoved your hand deep into your pants pocket, and with a huge sparkle in your eye and smile on your face, you pulled out a bunch of curled up potato bugs (as we called them) and deposited them on grandma's table. Ah, you were so happy; always collecting "things". One day I will post about the scorpions and snakes! 

Just stopping by after posting to grandma's site to let you know that you've been a blessing to our family. You truly brought a light to the world. I love you so very much. I just can't imagine the tomorrow's here on earth without you. I know it's one day at a time, but a day seems like eternity. 

Mark, Brian, and I had moved to North Carolina. You came up during Christmas Break with Joey and we decided to go learn how to snowboard on one of the mountains. First, it was the coldest day of the year and you guys only had Florida clothes. We had to rent parkas and other items for you. Even though it was freezing, it was good to be together. Naturally, Brian and Joey had enough after about an hour and some training. We were going to call it a day and decided we would gather everyone up and head home. We looked everywhere, but couldn't find you. Did I mention it was a ski mountain? We were standing by the doors to the lodge when we saw this dark ball rolling down the mountain. Yes, it was Joe. By the time he reached us, he literally had icicles hanging off of his eyelashes. It seems he decided to get on the ski lift and rode it to the top of the mountain.....

I watched David and Joey (and Lisa and Raul and sometimes even Diana) when they were young.  I remember discovering they all loved air guitar, so we'd blast Tom Petty's Refuge song or Come Together by the Beatles and dance on all the furniture, :)...

I will always remember the time I had a work trip in Clearwater.  I invited  David and Joey to come hang out.  Joey decided it would be fun (while I was working) to watch movies with his friends, so he called the front desk and ordered them.  I remember freaking out because that goes on my work credit card, so I shamed the front desk into giving them to us for free.  :)  I remember another Clearwater trip where we had a 1 bedroom upgrade, so Joe came and hung out with me, grandma and Trevor (Holiday Inn on the beach).  We had such a nice time. I miss those days...

It's hard to share only one story. Also most of them probably involved things we shouldn't of have been doing. Little-kid stuff of course but still probably would have got in trouble. It was always an adventure I always felt like we were The Goonies. As very young kids I can remember playing at the beach and Joey reaching into the water and snatching that needlefish fish with his bare hands. I can remember always wanting Joey and David to come over so that I could have a proper Stick War with the neighboring kids down the block.
As older kids I can remember us adventuring through Patchogue. We used to play Manhunt on the roofs of Main Street. One of those times we found a way to get into the old Patchogue theater when it was closed down. Of course Joey found the electrical panel inside the theater and turned it on. There was this giant Spark... looked like fireworks! We all got scared and ran out of the theater. When we finally got to the main street we realized we turned the lights on in the theater and the big sign was lit up. I always thought that was really cool that we had done that. It's one of my favorite stories to tell about being a kid. 

Well, after hiding the eggs for you guys to hunt for in the am, Joey and Dianna got up, found most of the eggs and hid them so you both could find more than Lisa and David.  Again laughing, just too funny.  Always being mischievous.  Good times

I was watching Both Joey and David, had a migraine.  Well the two of them were quiet, too quiet.  So I get up, kitchen window is open and the two of you were playing on the roof.  Second floor, got you back in the house.  Not more than an hour later you both were laughing.  Go in the kitchen and you guys had a gallon of ice cream spread all over the kitchen floor.  Couldn’t get too mad, because you couldn’t stop laughing covered in ice cream❤️

We moved to NC and Joe stayed behind to finish school and marry Leanne. One day he called me and was frantic. It seems that while he'd been driving, the car in front of him rode directly over a squirrel (didn't hit the squirrel). The frightened squirrel supposedly jumped up and hit his head on the car. Joe stopped, picked the squirrel up and brought it home to try to help it. Anyway, once he was home he put the squirrel in the bathtub and called me. He wasn't sure what to do, but thought the squirrel had swelling on the brain. He asked me if I thought he should drill - yes, drill - a small hole into his head to relieve the pressure. No kidding. While we were on the phone waiting for me to come out of shock, the squirrel died. I remember saying he'd better get that squirrel out of the bathtub before Leanne came home...oops, too late. He was very caring. 

You were barely 10 months old when you started climbing out of your crib. What a time! Middle of the night, early morning...there you were, out of your crib. I was always so afraid you would fall down the stairs (even though it was a short flight). David was the leader, I know, but you helped put the silverware down the pipes in the laundry room, painted poop on the wall, climbed up onto things, brought bugs and critters into the house (setting them free), and more. How about the time you got the hamster ball for Christmas, only to have a rat you found outside in it when I came home from work one day; or the horse you brought home? I miss it all.