I held my baby in my arms on August 29, 1994. Stroking his face, running my thumb along the bridge of his nose, listening to him breathe. Wondering what the future would hold for the two of us. I kissed his tiny cheek and whispered "Here we go Buddy, I don't know how, but here we go". For 11 years he and I were a family, "KateandDylan". We thrived on adventures, learning new things, daily silliness and just being together. He was so sweet. Any animal was his muse. Any small child, he was their entertainer. Any tear, he wiped with a smile. Any under-dog, he went to bat for. Any injustice, he made right. He is my inspiration. Dylan had many nick-names, the one that stuck was 'the Boy'. He was ALL boy through and through.

In the blink of an eye, everything I knew STOPPED. Casually walking into Dylan's bedroom on that Wednesday night I never would have imagined, that 15 feet from where I was just sitting, Dylan was playing a 'game' - the Choking Game- a 'game' he lost his life to. I held my sweet boy for the last time on October 7, 2005. Stroking his face, running my thumb along the bridge of his nose, noticing the freckles many afternoons of sun at the beach had left on his face. Cradling him, his head resting once again in the crook of my arm, his long legs spilling onto the chair next to me, feeling the weight of his pending adolescence both on my lap and in my heart. Listening to him breath, I whisper " I love you Buddy, I already miss you so badly, I don't know how, but I will go on from here." As despair and extreme sadness entered my heart, my son, my only child, my best friend took his last breath and left this world. My ignorance and Dylan's innocence were contributing factors in his death. I am no longer ignorant of the Choking Game and neither will every child and parent I encounter. Life does go on but never the same as it was.

~Kate Blake