I thought it would be nice to have a place for people to tell something they knew or loved about our boy Ezra. Just a favorite memory. I'll go first and mine will be the longest, but please indulge me.
Ezra couldn't wait to be born and start his life on earth. He and his identical twin brother Milo, were born at 32 weeks. Our boys weighed the exact same amount to the gram, which we've been told is very unusual - what a surprise.
Although born early, Ezra and Milo began crawling on the same day - a week before they turned 5 months old. They were cruising by 6 months and could walk by 8 months. Those boys were never ones to sit or stand still and they always reached every mile stone together - on the same day!
Enough baby stories. Ezra has always LOVED music. He played the violin for a year, he played the cello for a year, he started the clarinet this year, and he played the piano for the last 4 years. He could listen to any song and then sit down at the piano and pick out the tune and play it by ear. He loved to go through all of our old cds and pick out things to play. He loved the Beatles, Norah Jones, Bob Dylan, and a local a cappella group called "The Coats," Gershwin, Jazz, and so much more - he loved to sing and dance along - always in a silly way and when he was especially moved he would then hit the pause button and run over to the piano and pick out the same tune, playing it over and over until he got it just right and then add in some little flourishes. Ezra was always one to add a flourish to everything! He often signed his name with an exclamation point - EZRA!
Ezra loved performing. He LOVED Broadway Bound. He first production was Annie in 3rd grade, he played Mr. Bundles, a servant, and several other small parts. He had 7 different costumes to keep track of and loved every minute of it. Next came Seussical. He was the Mayor of Whoville and he loved his bright green and pink costume Rita made for him and he got to ride his unicycle in the Circus McGirkus. In 4th grade he was in Singing In the Rain. He played Flick and an assistant director. He got to learn some tap dancing and had a blast. Next up was Grease. he played a student and a rock n roller and loved doin' the Hand Jive. And he loved this cast that was filled with so many of his friends from McGilvra. Most recently Ezra performed in the Wizard of Oz last month. He was the Barrister of Munchkin Land and got to sing a duet and dance with Milo, who was the Mayor of Munchkin Land. He wanted to be in as many of these productions in a row as he could - he loved participating in these shows. He loved the comraderie, the excitement, the challenge, the friendships, the exhillartion of being on stage and mostly just the FUN. Thanks Jimmy and all the other wonderful people who make this program possible.
Ezra loved going to school. He loved his teachers. He loved his friends. He loved learning. He felt apart of the McGilvra community and genuinely loved it there. He never wanted to miss school, ever. Although the recent snow days were fun, Ezra wished he could still have gone to school instead. He liked to be there with his friends, and after reading all of your kind and loving posts it is really no wonder. Thank you McGilvra family - and I hope all of you kids know I would love a hug from you anytime - I am feeling pretty close to all of you sweet kids! And please keep hiding Jordan's water bottle for Ezra (sorry Jordan - and Ms. Kierstead and Ms. Calvert!)
Ezra was a helper. He loved to help people. Anyone in need, Ezra was there. He wanted to rake the neighbor's leaves before they got home from work. He was always the first to rub my back when I sat down - and boy was he a most excellent back rubber! He raised guide puppies for the blind. He would stay after church meetings to take down chairs and put them away. He would sweep our front steps without being asked. He seemed to always know when there was something he could do for someone and he would try to do it. Is it any wonder that the name Ezra is Hebrew means "help," "helper," and "helper of God."
Ezra was generous. I'll never forget the day I told him about the Tsunami in Asia. He ran upstairs and got his piggy bank, ran back to me, opened it and dumped out all of his money. He wanted every cent to be given to the relief aid, he didn't hold anything back for himself. He was that kind of a boy. Knowing that all of my kids had wanted a pet for years, I asked them 2 years ago if they wanted to get a pet dog or raise a guide dog for the blind, all jumped up cheering and chanting "Guide Dog, Guide Dog!" Ezra never missed a training class, went to several guide dog graduations, and took all of his puppy raising duties seriously. Although he knew he would be sad to give his puppy away one day he knew it would be ok, because he wanted to give that gift of love to someone. He loved that he was helping make someone else's life better and never thought about it as a sacrifice or a chore. Ezra would give anything he had to anyone who needed it or wanted it for that matter. He had a big heart and loved to make someone else smile by giving them something. He shared his smile and his life with many.
Ezra loved little children. He was very sweet and nurturing with them. He thought they were fun and funny! At church he liked to sit behind 5 year old Lucy and 3 year old Charlotte. He liked to make faces at them and make them smile. He would say things like, "Mom, Charlotte is really growing up isn't she?" Or he would remember something silly Lucy had said and then repeat it over and over saying, "wasn't that cute mom?" He loved all the little neighborhood kids. He loved greeting them and playing with them. And he thought they were cool and considered them his friends.
Ezra was very artistic. He loved drawing and kept a sketch book near his pillow. He would often sketch before he went to sleep. He wanted to be an Imagineer for Disney when he grew up.
Ezra was fun. He was ALWAYS thinking of fun, creative things to do. He LOVED life and was constantly in motion. He was pretty much always happy. Always with a sly grin and a wink. Always ready to do a silly dance to make me laugh or sing in a silly opera voice or whatever. And best of all he had Milo, his best friend who thought he was funny and always liked his ideas. The two of them together were like poetry in motion or a twister spinning out of control, depending on your current frame of mind.
Ezra was a good brother to his sister Luka and he loved her. He thought she was awesome. He was proud of her and interested in what she was doing and liked to be with her. They sat next to each other in the car. Not that anyone ever assigned seats, but that just sort of happened.
Ezra loved unicycling, he could unicycle forward and backward and rock back and forth and hop up and down and pedal using only one foot. He was truly ready for the circus. He also loved waveboarding and always looked so graceful weaving back and forth down the sidewalk. He made it look so easy, I still haven't mastered it, but I'm going to Ezra!
Ezra had faith and believed in God and his Savior Jesus Christ. I have his scriptures next to my bed and like me, he had already started tucking little notes and cards and pieces of paper inside of them. One of the little notes I found inside had a scripture from Psalms 82:6 "All of you are children of the most high." Another note card he got from his sunday school class says, "I have a Father in Heaven who loves me." He believed in prayer and prayed with our family and at his bedside. He always talked to God like he knew God was listening and just like a child speaking to their Father. He recently gave a talk in front of our entire church congregation about being a peacemaker. And one scripture that he loved was one that he had memorized to recite in front of the congregation, Isaiah 9:6 "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace."
Ezra loved playing with his cousins, none of whom live in Seattle. He loved reunions in Seaside, Oregon, where he got to play with his cousins from sun up to sun down. He would spend his days digging huge holes in the sand with his cousins and jumping in the icy cold waves. He adored his grandma and grandpa Hemsley and loved visiting them. He missed his grandma and grandpa Sherman, who he is now visiting with in heaven.
His favorite place on earth was the Sherman Family Ranch - thank you to Grandpa Sherman for purchasing that way back in 1964, it is an amazing place where we can all enjoy the beauty of this world in total peace. Ezra's summers were mostly spent at the ranch where he would spend his days outside exploring, building forts, swimming in the lake, building damns, going on walks, and picking blackberries. At night he would put on plays with Milo and Luka for his mom and dad to enjoy. A favorite would be acting out episodes from I Love Lucy, where he would often play the roles of both Fred and Ethel.
At home Ezra's favorite traditions were having dutch babies for breakfast on Sunday mornings, Friday family movie night - where we watched everything from old classics like the Marx brothers films and Bringing Up Baby, etc. to musicals to more recent favorites, like Elf - which he had memorized, "You like sugar don't you?" He loved going on walks in the Arboretum, family bike rides, and walking in the neighborhood - well not walking so much, he was actually never very happy walking, he always wanted to ride a skateboard, waveboard, roller blade, or ride his unicycle. Walking was too slow for him. He liked riding his bike to school with his dad and wanted to ride the STP with his dad. And Ezra loved going to Disneyland with his family and helping to plan the trip and trading disney pins.
Ezra was bold and liked to wear bright pink. He had a favorite bright pink shirt he loved to wear. He had pink socks and pink converse - not worn at the same time. Usually the polka dot socks were worn with the pink converse. He had panache.
So this was our boy. Please feel free to add a favorite story or memory, just something short please, don't write a long post like I just did, but a brief comment would be beautiful.
Ezra's casket was made by his dad. He worked on it in our dining room and on the back deck over the last week. It is made entirely of pine and fastened with wooden pegs. Milo wrote Ezra's name in cursive on the top, Luka painted over this and then Ryan waxed over the top. 
