Joshua Morgan Reed

The thing I am most proud of Morgan was what a genuine, good-hearted boy he was. He was always a good friend to his buddies. He would make things just so he could give them to people he cared about.

Morgan had the wonderful talent of building things. He was very clever, and industrious in his choice of materials. He especially loved putting cardboard boxes together with duct tape and making airplanes or cars with them. (I often wondered if I would find Parker duct taped up like a mummy, but fortunately I never did.) And it's no wonder where he got his love of vehicles – like father, like son. Be it puzzles or Legos or cardboard boxes, Morgie loved to make stuff.

For a school project, Morgan did a report on the Wright brothers' first flight. He insisted on getting the model kit for his presentation. Hesitantly, we picked one out, though I suspected I would be the one putting it all together. Each day, Morgan would ask me if we could start on the airplane, and each day I would put it off. Finally, Morgie got tired of waiting for me and started working on the model airplane on his own. There were only a few times he needed help from Wiley or me. Within days, my amazing child built the Wright Flyer on his own. I have the model sitting in my office at home. It serves to remind me of Morgan's love of building things, and his love of airplanes. And it reminds me to go on with life with his tenacity.

Morgan's soccer coach said that he worked very hard at the things that didn't come easily or naturally to him. I loved the fact that he did not give up. For the rest of my days, I will carry that with me, and I hope I make Morgan as proud of me as I am of him.

One of my favorite things in our life together was that the boys felt safe to just be boisterous little boys. Morgan loved to play with the other kids on our street, and he and Parker and the rest of the kids were always bouncing from one house to another to pursue fun. I'm just so thankful they got to experience that, knowing they were with good people. It was a joyous time for us all.

I encourage anyone/everyone to submit their own story of Morgan or their own special message that they would like added to this section of the website.

"Dear Mrs. Denise,
I was on your website and saw that you were open to have people share momories of your family. I want to share one of my memories. In second grade we did a project where we flew in an airplane to a place we were studying like Brazil. Every time we did that Morgan was the first to volunteer to design the plane. He would use everything in the classroom he could get his hands on. When he was finished the planes would look amazing. You could tell in his eyes he was proud of himself. I hope you suceed in helping your fund!" - Sincerely,Sara Grogan,4th grade