The Number 7 and Jimmie Johnson

So, those of you closest to Stephen know that he LOVED Jimmie Johnson, the Nascar driver. Every time Jimmie won, Stephen would call my husband Bill, who is a Dale Jr fan and rub it in his face! Anyway, tonight Jimmie Johnson won the Nascar Championship by 77 points, and finished tonight's race in 7th place.

Now, the number 7 has some strange relationship with Stephen. We can't quite explain it, but it just keeps popping up all around. Here's a list...

** Stephen's dirt bike has the 7 on it's front. We have a picture of Stephen as a baby on a motorcycle ride at Chuck E. Cheese and the bike has the 7 on the front. This was a total coincidence! (See below.)



** Stephen died on September 7th on Hwy 276.

** Stephen's favorite football player was Michael Vick, who is #7.

** Stephen's birthday is in July, which is the 7th month.

Do any of you have anything that you can think of? Anything that sticks out in your mind that includes the number 7?

2 months today...

Today is the 2-month anniversary of Stephen's death. Please take a moment to think of Stephen and go light a candle for him at

http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng&gi=DiPat

He is so missed and so loved.

I can't believe it's already been 2 months. A part of me still doesn't believe it's real. It really hurts and it so difficult to think that my kids have to grow up without their Uncle Steve and that I will NEVER get to be an Aunt to children he may have had in the future or a Sister-in-Law to a future wife.

I miss everything about him. I miss his laugh, I miss his pranks, I miss his hugs, I miss his calls, I miss getting mad at him and frustrated at him, I miss being bossy, which he hated so much ever since he was a little kid. I miss him sleeping on my couch. I miss having to tell Trey and Stephen to settle down before someone gets hurt. I miss him giving Makinsey extra attention so she didn't feel left out. I miss him getting to see movies before me and then him telling me all about them and that he's seen it already 3 times. I miss him calling to brag every time Jimmie Johnson won a race. I miss him calling me Nee-cole instead of Nih-cole. I miss his silly little videos he sent me from his phone. I miss his stories. I miss reminiscing about the past and laughing about it. I MISS HIM. Period.

Stephen, I love you and miss you more than I can ever say. I want you back with us. I want you here. And I know that's selfish because you had a hard life and suffered a lot. I know I'll see you again.



Your big sister,

Nicole