08/20/2026
On Monday 8/17 we celebrated Troy’s 14th birthday the way we always do, down the shore, in his happy place. 💚
Yes, there are other places we could go. Other vacations we could take. But there’s something about the shore that brings Troy a kind of peace I don’t see anywhere else. He’s calmer here. He’s happier here. He just seems… at peace.
Birthdays look different for Troy. And sometimes that’s hard for me to accept.
He doesn’t get to eat his birthday cake. He can’t blow out his candles or tell me what he wished for. He doesn’t have a bunch of friends coming over to celebrate him. There are so many things I wish I could give him, and if I’m being completely truthful, some days that hurts like hell.
I would give anything to hear him tell me what he wants for his birthday. To watch him tear into presents. To hear him ask me, “Mom, can my friends come over?” I wish I could give him all of those things.
But I can’t.
What I can give him is this.
The shore. The boardwalk. The ocean air on his face. People stopping to say hello to him and making new friends along the way. Time with his family. And that smile that tells me, without him ever having to say a word, “Mom, I’m happy here.”
And maybe that’s why we keep coming back. Year after year. We pack up what feels like half our house, we make it work, and we give him his shore.
Because when your child can’t tell you what they want, you learn to pay attention to everything else. His face. His body. His calm. His smile.
And here, I know.
Our boy is happy. 💚
That is enough to fill my heart and break it a little at the same time.
Happy 14th birthday, Troy. 💚
I wish I could give you the whole world. But if this little piece of it by the ocean is where you feel happiest, I’ll keep bringing you back here for as long as I possibly can.
I love you more than words will ever be able to explain.