A special day to remember.

It was 34 years ago. It was Easter morning, shortly after midnight, that I took Linda to Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne, IN. There were some snowflakes falling but the ground was too warm to have any accumulation.

Later that afternoon, our firstborn son, Erik James Koopman was born. His great-Grandmother Hanaman celebrated her birthday on the 30th of March. She was born on Easter, also. She had not celebrated her birthday on Easter until that year of 1975.

What a bundle of joy he was! As he grew, Erik loved to play Legos and Hot Wheels with his brother and friends, play on our friend Randy's drumset, and wear his specially made Superman cape. He loved to eat pizza, fried chicken, ice cream, and to walk around the then new Toys R Us store.

In January of 1979, we noticed that he was not feeling good, he was not as active or wanting to play as usual, and he was constantly having a fever and in some pain. We took him into the doctor because he seemed to not be shaking what we thought was the flu. His blood counts were off and it was determined he had Leukemia. The very next morning, we were on a flight to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. There Erik courageously fought the disease with highly skilled doctors and nurses trained in the best treatment of childhood cancers in the world. Erik died February 18, 1981.

We miss he greatly. He taught us a lot about how to love every moment of life with your loved ones and to be ready to go and be with your Savior, Jesus Christ. He told many of us, family and friends, as we were getting ready to go to the airport to take him back to the hospital just before he died, "Meet you in the sky." He was referring to the fact that several of us were to get on planes and go home. But we all knew, that someday we will be joined together again in the presence of the Lord in heaven.

Celebrate his birthday and life with us. You can do this by having pizza, ice cream, or playing with Legos. (If you have a Superman cape, you can wear that if you want, no pressure.) But most of all, enjoy life with your loved ones.