19 Years of Mum's Birthday Cards

I was saving this post for my youngest son's 21st, just as I did for his older brother back in December 2021, but it wasn't meant to be. Little did I know that he would not reach 21, nor even 20. It is impossible to believe that my cards stop at 19.

Gadi died on 21st May 2022. You can read his story here. 19th January 2023 would have been his 20th birthday. Instead of making him a special card and a yummy cake, we have invited his friends and fellow soldiers to join us for a barbeque, to remember Gadi and share stories about him.

Now I will tell you all about Gadi through the cards I made him every single year of his short life. I am so happy that I carefully saved them all.

Age 1. Gadi's 1st birthday card showed a little bear holding a balloon. The bear is sitting on a block with a big number 1 on it.

Age 2. This year a big smiley lion with a beautiful red mane went on Gadi's card.

Age 3. Gadi had developed an interest in pirates. He loved dressing up in his Early Learning Centre pirate costume, so I showed a pirate with a red spotted bandana. Next to him is a skull and crossbones flag or Jolly Roger. I added an island and palm tree and X marks the spot indicating where the pirate treasure is buried.

Age 4. This year Gadi was into knights and dragons. This rather sweet looking knight is holding a large shield and sword. The fiery red dragon looks a little scary.

Age 5. It looks like Gadi was still into pirates - or perhaps highwaymen - and swords, but he was also developing an interest in animals. We once visited a hedgehog hospital in the UK, so perhaps that is why I added one to his 5th birthday card. 

Age 6. I wrote in my blog post that Gadi had been checking for weeks that I had made his 6th birthday card and that he told me exactly what should be on the card. He wanted me to show him wearing his Dracula dressing up costume, with a bat on his shoulder. Gadi was into all things scary.

Age 7. Gadi had great plans when he was 7. He wanted to be a scientist when he grew up. Not only a scientist, but a scientist who travelled to the moon and deep down under the sea, thus the spaceman and his rocket and a diver and fierce shark. He was an avid reader, loved to draw and was fascinated with the scary things in life. I added a couple of bats and a mummy to the design. He also loves the animated series Ben 10, so I showed him wearing a Ben 10 shirt and holding some 'scientific potions'.

Age 8. Football has always been THE sport in our house but at 8, Gadi had his own ideas and was passionate about the Korean martial art of Tae Kwon Do. He had a yellow belt with two very important stripes on it and the design on his birthday card showed him in action, wearing his white suit and the aforementioned belt. He was still a big reader and still loved to draw. The very scary looking 'Weeping Angel' in the top right hand corner of his card had to be included because of his interest in the science-fiction series Doctor Who. 'Mocca' the toy guinea pig popped in too!

Age 9. Gadi was very creative. He loved to draw and wrote some great short stories. But with the creativeness came messiness and there wasn't a pencil in his room which had not been gnawed. For his 9th birthday card I showed him wearing his favourite "leather" jacket, with his bullet necklace round his neck, a book in one hand and the aforementioned chewed pencil in the other. In front of him is one of his Doctor Who drawings. Cookie the hamster is perched on top of the number 9. Finally I added some coloured Lego blocks - another favourite activity - and a big pile of books.

Age 10. When Gadi turned 10 I decided to show him surrounded by his books. He would leave them all around the house and would often simply start reading a book if there happened to be one near to where he was sitting.  He has paper and pencils in front of him too, since he still loved to draw.
I also showed him barefooted on the card. Gadi was always dressed for the summer. He never seemed to feel the cold. He wore a t-shirt when it was pouring with rain and would remove his socks the minute he got home, to walk barefooted on our cold tiled floors.
His other main interest at the age of 10 was maps. He had great plans to travel the world. The National Geographic map I have shown on his card is still on the wall above his bed.

Age 11. This year was the year of the Nerf Gun. I showed my now 11 year old with his new Nerf in his hands. Little blue and orange Nerf darts are scattered around him and there is a big pile of books in the background. Gadi was still a huge reader. His drawing of a Komondor dog - or as he called it, "The Mop" - is on top of the pile of paper in front of him. A couple of pencils are lying around too.

Age 12. Gadi always really wanted a dog, so I showed him hugging one. Behind him is his new scooter.  A pile of books had to feature on the card, as did the obligatory pencils and Nerf bullets as well. Gadi was now practising Krav Maga and is dressed in his blue Krav Maga trousers and white t-shirt. He is barefooted, as he was when practising Krav Maga, but then he was almost always barefooted anyway!

Age 13. This year's card, like last years, had to be about dogs. Every day Gadi would remind us all just how much he wanted a dog. He showed us pictures of them on his phone and we would watch clips together from The Daily Puppy online. At meal times he would shuffle in his chair, "I want a dog. Let's get a dog".
I wish we had got him one.

Age 14. Gadi was obsessed with his laptop, but when I did manage to peel him off it, he was still the artistic, creative, bookworm that we loved. Once again books had to feature on his birthday card, though by this age you'd find him with a Kindle in his hand instead. His phone, laptop and headphones had to appear too, along with some pens and a pencil. He still loved to draw. New additions this year were his skinny jeans and hair gel. He used to get his hair cut more often than anyone else in the family and then spend ages styling it in front of the mirror! Finally I added a little short-legged dachshund, which was his favourite breed of dog at the time. 

Age 15. Gadi's favourite dog this year was the Golden Retriever, so that's what I put on his card. He has his Xiaomi phone in one hand and behind him is his laptop computer with one of his favourite Instagram pages, The Daily Woof, open on the screen. I also added some sushi, his Kindle and the badges of his two favourite football teams, Ironi Modi'in and Hull City. Football had begun to take over.

Age 16. When Gadi turned 16 I showed him holding an Israeli drivers L-plate in one hand and in his other hand he is holding his grey MUN folder. MUN, or Model United Nations, is an academic activity in which students can learn about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations. Gadi, though a bright kid, was not the most serious of students, but he really enjoyed the MUN conferences. He was even willing to dress the part and would put on a white shirt and tie for the occasion! In fact, his school has renamed their conference the YachadMUN 2023 in Memory of Gadi Isaacs. A big honour. 

Once again I included the team crests of Gadi's favourite football teams, Ironi Modi'in and Hull City, along with a football. His Xiaomi phone had to appear on the card as well, along with his Kindle and some pencils to represent the hours he spent drawing in his bedroom.
Finally, he had almost given up on asking us to get him a dog and had reverted to begging for a hamster, the pet we used to have when the boys were younger. You can see a tiny little hamster peeking out from under the Israeli L-plate.

Age 17. Gadi's 17th birthday card yet again featured dogs. He used to walk several of the neighbourhood dogs, two of his regular clients being a couple of very cute dachshunds. He often brought them round to our home for me to see them too and one of them left me a 'present' which you can see on his card! It certainly made Gadi laugh when he opened it.
When Gadi went to visit grandpa in the UK in the summer of 2019, he returned home with a Hull City jacket which then rarely came off his back. I showed him wearing the much loved jacket on his card, along with his black adidas sweatpants and the Blundstone boots that all the Israeli kids wear. The blue t-shirt was a nod towards our local football team, Ironi Modi'in. He had a guinea pig in his hand. He was still desperate for a pet.

Age 18. Gadi turned 18 when Israel was in its third lockdown and it certainly wasn't the 18th birthday he had dreamt of. He had to make do with celebrating his special birthday at home with mum and dad. The dog that appeared on his birthday card is Tofu, our neighbours' dog, who Gadi walked daily. Those two loved each other.
Gadi had passed his driving test since his last birthday and, when we were not in lockdown, liked to take dad's car out for a spin with his friends. I showed the car on his card. He is proudly pointing to the car keys. I added Ironi Modi'in's badge to his card as well. Gadi could now legally enjoy a beer with his friends, so I included an overflowing beer glass, along with his precious phone, which never left his hand.

Age 19. Gadi spent his very last birthday in the company of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). He had enlisted back in August and was a tank driver. I showed him with short hair on his birthday card. The army required him to keep his curls short. He is holding his rifle and there is a tank behind him. I also included Ironi Modi'in's badge. Even though he was somewhat preoccupied, Gadi still managed to keep an eye on what they were doing and went to an occasional game too. Finally, I showed him against a stunning orange sunset. He had a good eye for photography and had sent us a few great shots of tanks in the desert since his service began.
Gadi loved his card and squirrelled it off to his room to place it on the shelf next to his Giyus Kal (an easy call-up) card. They are both still standing there.

Happy 20th birthday Gadi. I love you and miss you so much.

* This post has been shared on Little Things Thursday