Sunday was Bug’s third birthday.

As Sweet Miss ViVi said in her Facebook post, he’s been a “whirling ray of sunshine” ever since that day.

But it was a rocky road getting to that day.  One of the worst days in my life was the one early in December 2007 when my wife called on her way to the hospital with problems with the pregnancy.  After a few tense days, she was allowed to go home — onto full bed rest.  Her Mom came to help out; days later her uncle passed away suddenly and we were alone again.

Or not.  We had more food than we could even store (thank goodness it was winter in Buffalo — free refrigeration!)  We had free day care for Johnny Shizzle Cakes — I’d drop him off with my wife’s tennis friend in the mornings when he didn’t have preschool, and she’d take him home in the afternoon, or some other friends of ours would pick him up and keep him.  The preschool broke their own rules and allowed us to send him there an extra day a week.

Miss ViVi was finally allowed up and around, but she was still on restrictions, so the help continued.  My boss told me he didn’t want to see a) me, when I needed to be doing family stuff, or b) any of “that damned FMLA paperwork.”  Even after Bug was born, we got free babysitting and more free food.

I’ll never forget, and I can never give enough thanks to, all those dear, warm, wonderful people in Buffalo, New York, who helped us through a very difficult but even more amazing time in our lives.