"GRANNY'S ANGEL"

To the most special grandson anyone could have ever asked
for, Happy Birthday.  This is not the way to celebrate your birthday, but because of  actions that we had no control over,
we are here to let you know how special you were to all of us.

I could never tell all the things about you that we loved so much, it would take forever, so I will only say a few.

We loved the way you made us laugh with your funny little remarks.  Remember you would say, "Now that's what I was talking about" or "Gosh Dang, Granny."

We loved how you always had a special hello and a special little smile that was just for us.

We loved to watch you ride your motorcycle and anything else that had wheels.  How you could always just get on anything that had a motor on it and take off like you had driven it for years, was such a joy for us to see.

We loved to see the love you had for your family and friends. 
You never met a stranger and you made anyone who knew you, love you.

You touched so many lives in the six short years you were with us, that it must make you happy to be able to look down from Heaven and see all the attention you are getting.  You always did want to be the center of attention.  Now the spotlight is on you.  You left so many happy memories for so many to hold on to, and I am sure everyone here has their own special memory of you.

So on this special day of yours, Granddaddy and Granny want to say Happy Birthday.

H for how "happy" you always made us.
A for "all" you shared with us.
P for the "priceless" gift of love you gave us.
P for the "proud" grandparents we were.
Y for just being "you".

B for how "beautiful" you were.
I for the "incomplete" life you had.
R for the "race" you never finished.
T for the "times" we had with you.
H for the special place in our "hearts" we have for you.
D for the "day" we will be together again.
A for "always" being with us.
Y for "yes" we will always love you.

So Happy Birthday to our sweet, precious Lee Morris.  The only gift we can give to you, is the gift of our Love, which we will always have for you.  Though your body is not here with us today, we know your spirit is, so take this love with you and keep it close until we are together again.  We will always keep your memory alive and we will share those memories with Dawson.

Today, my son would have been seven years old.  Seven years ago today, I lied in a hospital room with a doctor, several nurses, and family delivering my son.   His precious little body was to be taken care of by me.   I was scared not knowing if I could be the mom I  knew he would need.  I found out shortly after that,  this little boy would change my world forever.  I gave through the six years he was with me all of the love a mother could give a child.  I tried to give him the world he had given me.  For six wonderful years I loved Lee, provided for Lee, and most importantly I cherished Lee.  He was my pride and joy.  He worked with me, he played with me, and he loved me.  He loved me.  These were the words spoken every night at bedtime, Mama I love you. 

On October 8, 1999 my world would once again be turned upside down.  I felt like I had been hit by a tornado.  Tearing down home in it's path and ripping apart everything and everyone it touched.  But somehow I continue to tell myself that we will get through this.  Through family and friends and a lot of listening we will get through this.  Compassionate and caring people often fall silent because they are stumped by how to respond appropriately to someone who is grieving, especially when it involves a child.  But when you all become silent, so do I.  That's destruction in itself.  I have had several friends over the last several months tell me the reason for not hearing from them is simply because they don't know what to say.  The one thing we want you to say is how much you enjoyed Lee, how you think of him and the funny little things he use to say or do.  Do not be scared to mention his name because I would be sitting there waiting to hear you speak his name.  It's one thing to give up a child to death, but it's another to have his memory die with him.  Lee came to me that late evening, December 31, 1992 and changed my life.  He left this world on October 8, 1999 and my world was left in shambles.  But through all of this, he left I will keep his memory alive with all of the good memories that I have and you sharing your memories that you have.  Together, I will survive, because you know what Lee would have said, "My mom is a Survivor."  I would like now to share some memories that I have of Lee that you might not have known.  These are simple little things that mean the world to me.

1)  Lee slept with a teddy bear named "Teddy."  Every night he kept Teddy close to him to protect him.  Teddy continues to sleep with Lee and protect him every night.

2)  His favorite song was by Jim Croce who was an artist long before I started listening to music.  The song title is "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown."

3)  He wrote in his school journal that his favorite thing to do was to go over to Josh's.  Every Saturday morning his feet would hit the floor and he would come to tell me, "Mom, Aunt Wanda told me I could come over and she's older than you."  He thought because she was older I would have to listen.

4)  Lee would ask me to tuck him in every night at bedtime.  But yet if he missed the bus I would take him to school he would insist that I not take him in because he was big enough to walk to class by himself.

5)  He would play games in the middle of the night with his Dave, seeing if he could scare Dave before Dave scared him.  Then I would wonder every morning why he couldn't get out of bed because he was so tired from trying to wait up for his daddy Dave to see if he could scare him.

6)  That he truly wanted to be a Redneck.  He would want to wear these brown ropers, wranglers and a cut off t-shirt to school instead of Polo or Tommy.

7)  He disliked brushing his teeth.  But yet he had no cavities and his teeth were as white as pearls.  So you know what my mornings in the bathroom were.

 
 

THIS IS LEE'S BEST BUDDY JOSH. 
JOSH IS GETTING READY TO REALEASE A 
SPECIAL DALE EARNHART BALLOON

~LEE~

Happy Birthday to Lee, my best friend.  I miss you not coming over to my house.  We are 7 years old and we are best buddies.  We are celebrating your birthday.  We know you are watching 
us, and you are with us.  We are sad and you are happy.  We 
will always be best friends and I will never forget you.

L ~ for "love" ~ we all loved Lee

E ~ Lee was "enjoyable" to be with forever!

E ~ Lee will never "end" in our hearts.

You would have been preparing for your birthday party.  What would you have chosen as your theme?  What would you have wanted.  These questions I will never have the answer to.  But I just have to think that you are celebrating a Birthday in Heaven that I would have never been able to give you here with me.

I am sure Aunt Mollie baked you a nice chocolate cake and Uncle John is helping you eat it.  While Uncle John has a bigger piece than you, but you would not have minded because that was the kind of little boy you were.  You loved everyone so much.  I can only dream of the birthday that you must be having.  I wish that you could have been here with all of us so I could have given you a birthday party that you always seemed to enjoy. 

I am sorry that you aren't here with me today but I know that you are here in my heart.  I keep telling myself that you will live forever in my heart but how I long for your tiny arms around my neck one more time.  I know you must be very busy playing with all your new little friends but wanted to write you this special birthday note and hope that you will hear me.  Know that as long as I live I will long for your touch and your sweet little voice to tell me how much you love me.  I will love you forever my precious angel, it doesn't matter how far you go or how long it will take me to be with you again, but I know that I will love you more every day and miss you more every day.

He was beautiful, from the tip of his little toe to the top of his head of beautiful hair.  Lee had the most beautiful little toes with only a trace of a nail on his little toe.  He inherited this from his Mom.  His hair would turn white as snow in the summer time while his body tanned a beautiful bronze from the sun.  This he got from his Granny who I remember had hair that looked like cotton when she too was a small child.  His Mom and Uncle Scotty wanted every hair in place and cut it in the latest styles.  When Uncle Brian had his cut short, he wanted his cut short also.  If Amy had allowed it , he probably would have shaved his head when Brian shaved his.  He loved having them fix his hair and then come to me with this look on his face.  He knew what I was going to do.  I loved to mess up his hair, which always put a smile on his face.  He didn't care how his hair looked, he only wanted to please the people around him.

He was able to swim in water where temperatures would be far to cold for anyone else to swim.  I particularly remember one day when Lee and the other kids had been swimming all day and his little hands and feet were all shriveled up.  The sun had been down for some time and his Granny asked if he was ready to get out.  The pool had already worn out the other kids, who by now were dried off and ready for some quiet time.  He looked at her with his body trembling, his teeth chattering and his lips purple from the cold and begged for just a few more minutes.  I believe he could outlast Flipper in the water. 

He didn't like to go to bed either.  Even as a baby he never took naps.  Most babies would take one or two naps that lasted a couple of hours each day but not Lee.  His Granny was lucky to get him to nap more than 15 minutes at a time.  He didn't cry, he just didn't sleep.  Once while visiting me in Oklahoma City with Amy when he was only 7 months old, he watched Barney for an hour and a half while his Mom got dressed.  He never took his eyes off the purple dinosaur dancing and singing on the TV.  As he got older, he became more creative when bedtime came. 
At my house, his ritual was to put his pajamas on, start up the stairs to bed and suddenly be overcome by a hunger like he had never eaten before.  I often wondered how he could be so hungry when it hadn't been long since he had eaten.  But he was always able to persuade Granny that he was just minutes away from starvation and if he didn't eat something, he would never be able to go to sleep. 

He was born a leader.  He was the one that organized or should I say orchestrated every child or adult event around him.  He could always persuade everyone that Lee's way was the best way.  That didn't mean that he necessary was the first one to try all the things that he came up with.  He usually would come up with the idea and then would let his best buddy Josh actually test the stunt.  He also had a knack for negotiating.  He could convince anyone that they would benefit from having his old, broken, torn or tattered toy in exchange for the shiny new toy they had.  He loved his toys and believed only he could protect them from danger.  He never quite trusted anyone with his belongings and was reluctant to let anyone play with them.  He had a motorcycle that he was able to maneuver like a young Evil Knieval.  He had no fear of the power that was beneath him because he was able to conquer this motorized bike at a very early age.  He had other motorized cars as well that he wanted to restyle.  It wasn't only the large toys that interested Lee Morris.  I have seen him play video games or lego's for hours.  I took him to the rodeo last year 
and for days afterwards he played cowboys with Christopher.  They took turns as they lassoed each other and tried to throw each other off the other ones back.  Pretending allowed Lee the luxury of never being bored. 

One of Lee's greatest assets was his ability to entertain others.  He would have been our next John Travolta.  I received a tape of him all decked out in his best Saturday Night Fever look alike outfit and watched in amazement at his love and talent for dancing.  He never tired of entertaining.  It wasn't just his ability to dance.  He could entertain you just by talking to you.  Somehow you came away from these talks just wondering which one of you was the adult and which one was the child.  Lee always spoke maturely for someone his age.  He wasn't afraid to say what he thought either.  He once told a guy working on his new house that he would get more work done if he wasn't gone all the time.  He always had the last word and it was a complete waste of time to try and change his mind.  Once you mentioned going or doing something with Lee, you might as well go ahead and do it because he was not going to let you forget it. 

I think what I loved most about Lee was his smile.  I don't remember him ever crying.  I'm sure he did, but wither I wasn't around or it did not leave a lasting impression.  His beautiful smile and child-like laugh is what I remember.  He came to see me on his first airplane ride, on one of Aunt Serena's airplanes.  I was there the first time he saw the ocean and visited Disney World.  I watched him learn to swim.  He spent vacations and many school breaks with me and Uncle Don.  Even though we never lived close to each other, I feel as though I knew him well.  I will never forget the last time I saw him.  He played in Granny's backyard with his best buddy Josh.  They ran, wrestled, laughed and played with all the innocence in the world.  This is how he lived and how I will remember him.  I never got to attend one of Lee's birthdays but today I will remember him with a smile and thank God that I had the opportunity to know and love this extraordinary young man.

I never thought I'd be writing you a letter on your birthday.  I just took it for granted that you would be comfortably at home awaiting the many gifts you would receive.  As we would lavish you with gifts, hugs, kisses, and much love; you in return would throw on a face that would bring much humor to me and the others around.  You were a little man with many faces.  Unfortunately, we are left with only the memories of those faces.  But since you are 7 today I will list only 7.

Number 1, your most valuable face was a happy face.  You gleamed, your smile was contagious and it could make all of those around you light up with a smile in return.

Opposite of happy is sadness, although you rarely showed a sad Lee Morris.  Mostly your sadness was because you were separated from your Mom or Granny.

Your third face is that of concern.  You have the ability to show me concernment.  You worried over those you cared for.  You always had everyone's best interest in mind. 

Sincerity was your grown-up face.  You could sit down with ease and shoe deepest sincerity over a conversation showing much love while doing it.

God forbid somebody did something wrong.  You would have no problem in becoming face number 5.  The mad, angry Lee Morris, however humorous I found you to be, I could still see the rage within.  Yet you still had the ability to wipe away that face really fast and become the Dare Devil within. 

This is face number six.  You were not afraid of anything on wheels.  You were capable of getting behind the steering mechanisms of many pieces of machinery, golf carts, four wheelers, motorcycles, basically anything with a motor, and take control as if you had been driving for many years.

Lastly, but definitely not all of the many faces was the face of a prankster.  A mischievous child trying to get the best of me and others.  I will miss these days the most.  I'll miss seeing you hide and jump out to scare the life out of me.  You were always trying to pull the grand prank off with style.

I hate it with all my heart that you are not here today, so I can tell you Happy Birthday.  I know you are looking down today with a face of joy, for I believe joy is all you feel these days.  Keep the angels singing and the Heavens happy.  I love and miss you a lot.

Happy Birthday hun!  It doesn't seem fair that we're celebrating your birthday in this way.  You're suppose to be at home with all of your family and your friends opening your gifts.  But for some reason, unknown to me, it's different this year.  And I can't find one thing about this whole situation that is fair.  I know you se how unhappy we all are and I know you're trying to tell us it's not suppose to be this way.  You are happy and you want us to be too.  But be patient with all of us, we're really trying. 

I have always been told that the only thing final is death.  People can look at that in many different ways.  But now I don't believe that at all.  To me, death isn't even final.  I can't see you and I can't hear your voice and I can't play with you, but I know you are here.  Maybe not the way we want you to be, but you are with us all the time.  How can death be final when we know we will see you again in Heaven?  Just think what an awesome day that will be.

I know you touched a lot of people and you've made a difference in a lot of lives, but I have to thank you for always being Josh's best friend.  He loved you more than anyone else and for that, I love you even more.  Don't worry about him forgetting you, it won't happen.  You were always such a big part of his life and he will always remember that.  He talks to you quite often and I know you can hear him.  You better get use to that because I know he'll talk to you a lot more over the years to come.  He's really looking forward to seeing you and being with you again, so you be sure to meet him when he arrives.  He'll be looking for you, Lee.

I have had a lot of things happen in my life, but I never thought I would have to experience something like this. Like everyone else, I'm sure, I wish I could have done a lot of things differently.  Like the last night I saw you, you told me I looked pretty.  I gave 
you and Josh a kiss but if only I would have given you a hug too.  But like everyone else I thought I had plenty of time to do all those things.  Unfortunately, the Lord doesn't give us these signs that we would like to have.  He prepares us, but we are too blind to notice these things when they are happening.  And for that, I am sorry.  I can only hope that you know how much that meant to me. 

I know you were only with us for 6 years, but Lee Morris, I've never known anyone to do all that you did in 6 years.  And of course, that was for a reason.  You had so much love to give.  You were an extraordinary little man.  We will never forget you and the impact you have had in our lives.  So on your 7th birthday, we are celebrating and I know you are celebrating with us. 

~CANDLE LIGHTING CEREMONY~

~PEE-WEE DEDICATION~

~SITE MAP~