Remembering Matthew on his birthday.

On such a morning as this, with the blackbirds singing at 4.45 am and the cherry blossom in full bloom our first son was born in St Mary's Hospital Portsmouth, April 23rd 1976.
Matthew Milford Sellers.
It became one of the hottest summers recorded at the time. 
Today would have been his 44th birthday. 
We have always marked the day by doing something special. 
     This year is obviously different in as much as we cannot go out to a lovely restaurant, or visit somewhere like Stratford-upon-Avon, (it is also  Shakespeare's birthday today, and St. George's Day)   
      We did the Shakespeare Trail one year, which was great fun. 
One year we visited the National Forest where Stephen's work colleagues had a tree planted in Matt's memory. 
       Yet today is always special, and poignant, at the same time. 
We are celebrating by watching his brother Alan give a speech at the British Standards Institute Conference courtesy of Zoom! 
     The conference is obviously on-line, so it was made free to register, and Alan sent us the details. 
His big brother would have been so proud of him, as are his parents! 
I went up the garden as usual early on, watching the sunrise, and thinking of him. 
I returned just before breakfast to take a photo of the apple blossom by the summerhouse. It isn't a cherry tree, but it is absolutely beautiful this year. 
Photo in extras