Give Thomas a goodnight kiss, my oldest son says to my youngest.

Give Thomas a goodnight kiss, I said to my husband, still a new father, nearly eleven years ago.

Give Thomas a goodnight kiss, my big boy teases as he chases his squealing younger brother with the extra special needs.

Give Thomas a goodnight kiss, I said to myself a decade ago, the girl still in awe that she was finally a mother.

Give Thomas a goodnight kiss, my ten year begs the three year old.

Give Thomas a goodnight kiss, I whisper to the little boy, it is he who will love you after I’m gone.

Give Thomas a goodnight kiss, a gesture of love for the brother who longs to know he is loved by the magnificent child who can not say his name.

Give Thomas a goodnight kiss, I remind myself of the boy nearing the end of the sacred time in childhood that allows goodnight kisses.

Give Thomas a goodnight kiss, I tell the littlest boy in our family, who smiles and says, “Mah!”

Give Thomas a goodnight kiss, the sentence and gesture that encompasses love in its’ simplest form.