Today should have been filled with laughter, candles, and wishes whispered over a glowing cake. 🎈 But instead, there’s only silence — the kind that echoes through every corner of a mother’s heart. 💭💔

Twenty-four years ago, I held him for the first time, his tiny fingers curling around mine as if to promise he’d never let go. 🤱💞 I still remember the way his eyes sparkled when he laughed, how his hair would fall across his forehead when he ran too fast, chasing dreams only a child could see. 🌈✨

Now, every year when this day comes, I find myself standing by his photo — my hands trembling as I trace the outline of his smile. 📸🥺 I whisper happy birthday, hoping somehow the wind carries my words to where he is. 🌬️💫

I don’t just mourn the child I lost — I mourn the man he would have become. The milestones we’ll never celebrate: his wedding day, his first home, the sound of him calling me “Mom” again, full of joy. 💍🏠💔

Yet even in the weight of grief, his light still finds me. 🌤️ Sometimes it’s in the warmth of the morning sun that brushes my face, sometimes in a song that plays out of nowhere — the same one he used to sing in the car. 🎶💗

Tonight, I’ll light a candle for him. 🕯️ I’ll close my eyes and picture him smiling, free from pain, surrounded by stars. 🌌 And I’ll whisper the same words I say every year:

“You may be gone from my arms, my son, but never from my heart. You are my forever love — my eternal light.” 💞🌠