Aiden Daniel Miller

Lately I've spent most of my time sharing hugs and kisses with my family, watching my favorite cartoon Spongebob Squarepants, cuddling with our kitty cats Little Bit, Abel, Dexter, and Bella, petting our doggie Audie, playing with all of my wonderful toys, dancing a bunch - and looking at the beautiful trees everywhere. I really love the trees we have all around us!

On Sunday I had such a wonderful day! Waking up after being cuddled to sleep by Mommy the night before, I got to kiss Grandma Erin and Grandpa Thomas and pet our kitties first thing in the morning. Then Mommy took me to see Daddy and his family.

I was so excited to see Daddy, and he gave me a big hug. I couldn't wait to get out of my socks and shoes and run around the house - I even forgot to take off my coat so Grandpa Keith did that for me. After that, I played and played and played.

Nana came back from her morning jog and scooped me up and squeezed me so tightly - I just love that! I also got some great hugs from Aunt Emilie - she squeezed me almost as hard as Nana. Uncle Raimon and I watched some Thomas The Tank Engine videos together, then I laid down on the couch with Grandpa Keith and almost fell asleep on him. I probably would have, but I was watching Nana and I wanted to play with her some more, so I got up to do that.

Since it was so pretty outside, we went out to play and to look at the big trees in the back yard. Audie went out too and I got to pet him and feed him doggie biscuits. He gets them out of my hand without biting me, but he usually licks my hand a little, which makes me laugh. Then Daddy took me for a walk on the greenway trail, which I always like. When we got back I was playing with Aunt Emilie and Nana and got a little bit muddy. They tried to keep me from slipping in the mud, but I kinda liked it.

They decided that I was muddy enough and took me back inside to clean me up some. That wasn't too bad, but I was a little tired and I fell asleep watching videos. I think the last one was Spongebob, but I'm not sure since I was so sleepy.

I didn't nap very long, I think Grandpa Keith woke me up with his snoring, since he had fallen asleep after I came back inside. That's OK though, since I played even more with my toys for the rest of the afternoon.

After dinner Daddy gave me a good bath. He always loves to give me baths - 6 P.M. on the dot or earlier if I got particularly messy like I did today - and he always does it with so much love even though I fidget a lot. After he carefully helped me dry off, he dressed me in a nice NC State jersey and played with me until bedtime.

After such a full day, I went right to sleep after my daddy put me to bed. For a while I dreamed of dogs and cats and fire engines and lots of trees like I usually do, but then I heard a nice warm voice.

He told me that I had been a really good boy here and spread a lot of joy to everyone around me, and he asked me if I could help him spread even more joy from heaven. I told him that sounded pretty neat, but that I didn't want to leave all the people here who loved me, at least without saying goodbye. Then he told me that it would be too difficult to tell everyone bye-bye, and that it would make everyone cry. I never want to make anyone cry, since all I can remember is making people laugh and smile, so I guess he's right. We have to stick to what we're good at. Then he told me something that at first I didn't understand, but it makes more sense now.

He told me that I had been telling people goodbye little by little over the past few days, but that they didn't realize it at those times, and they would start to see it now. He pointed out all the special things I did with mommy when she was on spring break last week, all the fun I had playing outside on the warm days, the times I helped daddy play his video games, and all the little special moments that I shared with everyone.

Then he reminded me that Nana starting calling me "cherub" just a few days ago, and that a cherub is a special kind of baby angel. She didn't know it at the time, but he was using Nana to help me prepare for my role in heaven. I guess he's right, and I always trust Nana, so it must be the right thing to do.

As I was leaving with him I stopped and asked him if leaving would make everyone sad. He said at first it would since everyone would want to share more joy with me, but then they would remember how I spread so much joy to them already, how I repaid them for all the love they gave me with a bunch of love of my own - making them so happy, and how many wonderful memories I left them with. He said these memories would give them strength and motivation, and would make them better. I was kind of confused on how I could make others better, since it seemed like all everyone did was help me get better at things as I grew. Then he told me that I had already made many people kinder, more loving, and wiser, and that these were great gifts. He said that my work was now done here and leaving with him right now would help everyone focus on these gifts.

That sounded pretty good, but then I thought how I would miss all the people that I loved as much as they would miss me. He warmly assured me that the kind of love I shared would last forever in all of our hearts, and that I would always be able to see them from heaven, so that way, we would always be together and never miss or forget each other.

I'm still thinking about that and it's starting to make more sense, so I think I will take his hand and go now. Thanks to everyone for watching over me and helping me grow, I'm gonna do my best to watch over you guys now.

I love you all! Bye-bye.

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Aiden - Aiden Daniel Miller

Mommy - Margaret Harrington

Daddy - Eugene Miller

Grandma Erin - Erin Harrington, maternal grandmother

Grandpa Thomas - Thomas Cox, maternal grandfather

Nana - Haruyo Miller, paternal grandmother

Grandpa Keith - Keith Miller, paternal grandfather

Aunt Emilie - Emilie Miller, Eugene's sister

Uncle Raimon - Raimon Miller, Eugene's brother

The family will receive friends from 5-8pm on Sunday, March 22, 2015 at Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, 200 SE Maynard Road, Cary, NC 27511.

A funeral service will be held 11am Monday, March 23, 2015 at Holland's United Methodist Church, 9433 Ten Ten Road, Raleigh, NC 27603.

Private burial will be at Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, NC.