Fridays With Frank: Are There Birthday Parties in Heaven?

For this week's Fridays With Frank post, I'm digressing from my series about my grandfather, Frank Lewis Lee.  I'll return to Granddad next Friday, but today is a rather special day for two other Frank Lees:  my dad, Frank Welch Lee, and my brother, Frank Lewis Lee II.

Born February 22, 1962, my brother, Frank, would have been 51 years old today.  He was born only 13 months after I was, and he lived for only two days.  I have always missed him, and I know his death left a huge hole in my parents' hearts.

Frank Lewis Lee II's Nursery Identification Card

Frank Lewis Lee II's Birth Certificate

On February 22, 2004, my dad, Frank Welch Lee, died at age 91.  As I sat by his hospital bed holding his hand that day nine years ago, I remembered that it was my brother's birthday.  That was somehow comforting to me.  As my dad passed on, I imagined that there might be a birthday party going on in Heaven  for my brother that our Daddy would finally get to attend.  Isn't it strange, and sometimes wonderful, where our minds and hearts go in times of grief?

Frank Welch Lee with grandsons, Benjamin Lee Southworth & Lucas Lane Southworth
Middlesboro, Kentucky, November 2003

So, today, February 22, 2013, it's Frank Welch Lee and Frank Lewis Lee II that I most remember. Oh, and by the way, Happy Birthday, Little Frank.  I hope you guys are enjoying this day together--and maybe, I'd like to think, sharing some birthday cake in Heaven?