Keep that journal going, some day you'll be able to give it to him, even if you have to wait until he's 18.

We have a friend who one day, out of the blue, got a phone call. It was from his nephew, that his sister had had taken away by DSS years and years before. DSS was right to do so, she never took care of, barely fed, changed, etc. her kids, moved in with her brothers and expected them to do so. Well, 13 years later, our friend got a phone call, and his nephew had been adopted and raised by a nice family, was a teenager, and decided to try to find his uncles. They reconnected and have a nice relationship now.