Sterling

His name was Sterling.

He was a chubby face little baby.

He was sweet and kind. He smiled at everyone who he met, and look down abashed at the pretty ladies.

He loved the color red, and loved his red blanket with a Mickey Mouse pattern more than life itself. He brought it with him everywhere.

He was happy and he was so full of life.

Sterling grew up and remained kind.

He played well with the other children on the school yard. He demanded chivalry and always included the girls in on the fun. He was also brave and would climb to the top of the monkey bars quicker than any of his friends.

His favorite movie was Star Wars (Episode VI).

He loved reading books, adored Harry Potter.

He dreamed of daring sword fights, casting spells, fighting the bad guys, and always coming out on top because of the goodness in his heart. He could do anything he set his heart to.

Sterling loved the color red and he grew up known as the Little Red Boy (despite having light brown hair).

His eyes shown with the vigor of life and attracted others to surround him. He never feared anything in life, not the time he went skydiving, nor the time he fell and broke his foot in three places and had to have surgery to repair it.

Sterling fell in love for the first time at the age of 16, to a girl a little younger than him at his school. He dreamed about her night and day, but never once did he tell her how he felt. He was heartbroken by the time he turned 17 as the girl fell in love with an 18 year old.

Sterling excelled at school, and graduated in the top 20 of his class. He wore honors cords as he walked across the stage at his high school graduation and shook hands with his principal. His parent's eyes gleamed with pride. He had been accepted to a prestigious university on a tremendous scholarship.

Sterling was tall and strong, but his heart was kind and soft. When he moved away for school, he called his mom and dad every day, telling them how much he missed them, tears in his voice.

But his vigor followed him, and soon he excelled at his university. His thirst for life made him irresistible to those around him.

Sterling fell in love again at the age of 20, to a girl he had met in his British Literature class (he had hoped they would read Harry Potter and was upset to have to read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight). He fell in love with this girl and she was so full of life after meeting him that she fell in love with him.

Sterling grew up, and graduated well in his class. His internship that he went to daily, dutifully, and unpaid for 2 years had turned into a career. He took every opportunity given to him, and found himself successful at every turn. Even when Sterling wasn't successful, he considered himself to be just from the experience.

When Sterling was 24 he married the girl he fell in love with in his British Literature class (she had gone on to pursue Shakespearean studies). By age 27, he was a father, and he was widely considered the best father for miles around.

His parents beamed on proudly watching their Little Red Boy holding his own little boy in a red blanket with Mickey Mouse on it. They could not have been happier for this blessing that had come into their lives 27 years earlier.

Today should have been his birth day.

Today should have been the day that he was born, and enabled him to live this full life for the next 27 years.

However, today never came for Sterling.

His parent's were young and unprepared. His mother was sick and went to the doctor, took home antibiotics, not knowing she had Sterling with her. It wasn't until it was too late that his mother realized that it was a bundle of nerves that she lost, nothing yet formed, not even enough to be confirmed.

But a mother knows.

On the day she lost Sterling, she cried, opened a calendar and marked down 9 months from that date, then took out her red blanket with the Mickey Mouse pattern, and laid down to rest.

Sterling would never live to see the day that his son took his first breath.

Sterling would never live to see the day where his own heart pumped for the first time, filling his body with undeniable life.

Sterling would have been so full of life.