Celebrating Jonny

Please don’t share this with our parents just yet—they don’t know we’re doing this.

Losing our brother Jonny has shattered our world in ways we can’t fully put into words. Our family will never be the same—and our parents, especially, carry a weight now that’s impossible to describe.

Before we lost him, we had a family trip planned to Orlando this September to celebrate his birthday. While Justin and his family couldn’t join because of the new baby, it was something we were all looking forward to and something Jonny was so excited about. Even though he’s no longer here with us, we still want to go. We want to honor him, to be together, and to find some moments of peace in the place where we were supposed to celebrate him.

But we know that after everything the financial strain after his loss has made this trip feel out of reach for our parents. Deep down, we think they’ve already started letting go of the idea, even if they haven’t said it out loud.

Em and I are covering the hotel, but we want to do more. We want to lift the burden from our parents’ shoulders, just enough so that they can go—so that this trip can still happen without the shadow of money getting in the way. A chance for all of us to be together and feel Jonny’s spirit close, even in his absence.

We miss you every day, Jonny.

D & Em