I don’t cry nearly as much as I used to.
That kind of bothers me.
I don’t know if I’m just not as sad or if I’ve just used up most of my tears.
I think it’s a bit of both.
I DO still cry. And I try hard to remember that I do not need to be ashamed of my tears. I don’t need to apologize for them-even if they make some folks uncomfortable.
Read the rest here: It’s My Story and I’ll Cry If I Want To
Oh, the early days, weeks and even years of grief!
I was a giant walking nerve.
Every sight, sound, smell or even touch that reminded me of Dominic evoked a wave of sorrow that almost always ended in tears.
I cried in the grocery store, walking past Bath and Body Works in the mall, driving down the road when certain songs came on the radio, tidying up drawers and finding a long lost and forgotten something that Dominic tucked away for later.
Sometimes I just wanted to scream, “Don’t you know my son’s not here??!!”
But of course I couldn’t do that and walk around in society.
So the triggers were an outlet for that pent up energy, angst and sadness.
It was awful.
Especially when what I set out to do was something I really needed to do. I’d leave the house with a list of places to go, things to buy and people to see but often return having done only a fraction of it.
I’m better at it now.
I’ve grown stronger and am more skilled at carrying the burden of the disconnect between my heart and other hearts who haven’t experienced deep pain and loss.
I’ve learned how to fix my eyes on some distant point if cornered by a well-meaning friend asking how I am but not really wanting to hear about how Dominic’s death continues to impact our family.
I press my fingers together hard in an attempt to stop the sorrow rising up and threatening to undo me until I can escape to the bathroom, a quiet corner or my car.
And I’ve learned not to be ashamed of the tears that fill my eyes and slip down my cheek despite all my best efforts no matter where I am.
This was not my experience-all my children were adults when Dominic ran ahead to Heaven-but so many grieving parents want to know: Should I let my younger children see me cry?
How much is too much for them to witness, process and hear?
Do I need to shield them from the awful truth of how much this hurts? CAN I shield them?
It depends.
Read the rest here: Should I Let My Young Children See Me Cry?
I don’t cry nearly as much as I used to.
That kind of bothers me.
I don’t know if I’m just not as sad or if I’ve just used up most of my tears.
I think it’s a bit of both.
Read the rest here: It’s My Story and I’ll Cry If I Want To
This past weekend was an emotional one.
My deployed son began his trek back home to his wife and newborn son.
My youngest son went on the bachelor trip with his soon to be brother-in-law and was incommunicado for almost 72 hours which always makes me nervous.
My daughter’s wedding is only a few weeks away and there is so much to do. Fun things. Things I want to do.
My companion animal and faithful sidekick died two weeks ago and I haven’t been sleeping nearly as well as I did before
It was the fifth anniversary of Dominic’s death and funeral.
I didn’t cry, but then I did.
And I couldn’t stop.
I just couldn’t stop.
How in the world can it be five years? I can’t explain it to anyone who hasn’t buried a child. But I keep trying. The giant chasm between what I thought life would be like and what it actually turned out to be is so wide that it’s impossible to comprehend. I’m living it and I can’t comprehend it.
I am trying so, so hard to participate.
I’m working at keeping grief at bay and leaning into the life I have without constantly comparing it to the life I thought I would have or the life I wanted instead. I’m purposing to keep my expectations low so I won’t be disappointed.
But it’s not working.
I think I’m just at the end of my personal resources. I think I’ve exhausted any reserve I might have had. I’m leaning into Truth and holding onto the hem of His garment.
I know it won’t always be this way.
The tears will dry up. They always do.
Tomorrow is a new day.
One of the blessings (although I didn’t realize it at the time) of the early days of this journey was the immediacy of my response to triggers.
Something would upset me and I would react right away.
Nearly five years in and I’ve developed such excellent coping skills that I am rarely caught off guard, cry in public or respond dramatically regardless of what happens.
So this past couple weeks of on again/off again stress has been met, for the most part, with a calm demeanor and a “can do” attitude.
But it caught up to me last night.
All the pent-up, piled-up stress and grief poured out of my heart and dripped down my face.
I had a good, old-fashioned meltdown.
Smack dab in the middle of overwhelming thankfulness that my grandson is doing well, my heart reminded me that Dominic is not here the enjoy it. I remembered that Ryker will grow up and never see Dom’s amazing dexterity on the drums or hear his witty remarks or be caught up in his powerful hands and held overhead until he squeals to be released.
And I realized once again that while I love, love, love the blessings God sends my way, there’s no cosmic scale where those blessings eventually counter-balance the desperate longing I have for my son.
I have so appreciated the messages from other bereaved parents who “get it”. They know that I am absolutely overjoyed my son and his wife are spared the horror of child loss. But they also know that my mama heart still yearns for my own son even while rejoicing in the birth of theirs.
I’ll be OK.
A few tears, a quiet evening, reflection on truth and my heart will manage to find a way.
I’m approaching five years since Dominic ran ahead to Heaven and I’m pretty sure that most folks think I don’t cry anymore.
I don’t blame them really-I haven’t broken down in public in more than a year.
But I’ve still spent plenty of nights softly sobbing myself to sleep.
And when no one is looking, no one is listening and no one is close enough to notice, more than one tear has slid down my cheek during daylight.
I am no more reconciled to this life I didn’t choose than I was five years ago.
I know I cannot change it.
I endure it.
But I hate it.
This was not my experience-all my children were adults when Dominic ran ahead to Heaven-but so many grieving parents want to know: Should I let my younger children see me cry?
How much is too much for them to witness, process and hear?
Do I need to shield them from the awful truth of how much this hurts? CAN I shield them?
It depends.
May I first say that there is NO way to shield even an infant from the overflowing emotions, stress and strain of child loss in his or her family. If we stop and think about it, we know this. And older children may look like they aren’t paying attention, but they are.
So the question is not really, “Can I shield them” but is instead, “How do I help them understand what’s happening”?
Grief in this life is inevitable.
Allowing our children to watch us grieve helps them understand how it’s done. When we share openly, we give them tools and models for sharing too.
I think it’s important to be honest with even the youngest among us.
When a parent speaks of the deep pain of loss, expresses love for the missing ones and looks longingly at photos and mementos, he or she is saying to the watching child: “Love lives. Love is important. Love lasts even when our bodies don’t. I will always love you just like I love your brother (or sister).”
Young children will create their own script if adults don’t help them write one.
Because their minds are not fully developed, they will often connect odd bits into an unhealthy whole. Just as some children decide they are responsible for their parents’ divorce, some surviving siblings think that a random act of disobedience resulted in the death of a sister or brother.
And if a parent is modeling secrecy or a stiff upper lip, that child may never reveal her dark and weighty secret.
We can help our children by providing a safe space where they can express themselves freely without fear of correction or being silenced. It might get ugly. Our grief gets ugly. It’s part of the process.
But children should never become the burden bearers for adults.
Crying in front of your child is OK. Screaming, yelling, blaming and violence is not.
No child should feel threatened or unsafe in his own home. If you are out of control, THAT is the time to go to a room and close the door. Or call a friend to come get the kids so you have a few hours alone. Or send them outside to play. It is NOT the time to unload on your surviving child(ren).
I wish that grief was not part of life.
But it is.
How I deal with it, what I say about it, when and how I express it will impact my children for good or ill.
I want to offer them tools they can use and build resilience for what they may face in the future.
Letting them see me-especially the grieving me-is an important part of that process.
So many times I feel like this violet, clinging to a tiny foothold in a treacherous world-only enough strength for today, only enough bravery for today, only enough mental and emotional reserve for today.
But I know as surely as the sun rises, that tomorrow God will be present to give me what I need for THAT day too. ❤
Out of the depths I cry to You, O LORD,
O LORD, hear my voice,
Let Your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in His word I put my hope.
My soul waits for the LORD more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
~Psalm 130-selected NIV
So my regular followers know by now my mom was lifeflighted over a week ago from her VERY rural home to the nearest large hospital due to a heart attack and complications from preexisting heart/lung disease. (If you didn’t, you do now 🙂 )
I’ve been here with her since Thursday morning-taking night shift at the hospital so my dad can go home to the farm, get some rest and do what needs to be done.
You’d think a body might catch a break when some giant life-altering event like this happens. But NOOOOOOO!
In the week plus a day since Mama has been hospitalized we have had (not really, but sorta) funny one [#unblessed] moment after another.
Last Friday morning, following my dad to the hospital, he did the same sliding “stop” at a stop sign turning right onto an access road that he’s done every time he goes this way for 20 years. But this time-you guessed it!– a very enthusiastic and attentive LEO saw him and pulled his old red farm truck over.
Following behind, I’ll just be honest, more than one salty word slipped out as I anticipated the worst possible outcome in case fatigue and stress prompted Papa to tell the officer what’s what. Thankfully, it didn’t come to that and after running the plates and license the cop let him go. [#unblessed]
Sunday I came to the farm by myself for the first time and left Papa at the hospital. He had remembered to give me a house key and I had carefully put it in my purse.
Perfect.
Got inside-no problem.
I needed to add clothes to a load in the washer and stepped out on the porch to toss them in. Being the well-trained daughter I am, I shut the house door behind me. Locked myself out of the house.
No phone.
No shoes.
No car keys.
NOTHING.
Everyone down this way was in church.
So I did the only thing I could do. I put on an old pair of Papa’s boat shoes (after checking for spiders) and hoofed it the two miles to my uncle’s house so he could give me the spare key. At midday. In the Florida sun. No one stopped to ask if I needed a ride. [#unblessed]
Tuesday I thought I was being very innovative in getting my critical daily medicine prescriptions filled at the local pharmacy HERE since I didn’t bring a sufficient supply from home. Called CVS and it was a breeze except for one hiccup. A single script was out of refills so I had to call my doctor and ask for an emergency 14 day supply to be sent. Nurse took the message, said she’d get it done. That was at 11:15. I head to the pharmacy about 3:00 to pick everything up. Two are ready but the one from the doctor isn’t.
Thinking that there had been a snafu-they might have called it in without thinking to my pharmacy back home-I telephone the office only to be told that the doctor was going to do it this time, but that because he wanted me to do a follow-up appointment (which I had cancelled but forgot to reschedule), he was basically doing it under duress. (Even though this is a “don’t you dare stop it suddenly” medicine and I told the nurse my mom was lifeflighted to the hospital with a heart attack).
All the fight was out of me. I “yes ma’amed” my way through that phone call and said “thank you so much”. The nurse waited until the minute before their office closed to fax the script just because she could. [#unblessed]
They are trying to move the fluid off my mom’s heart and lungs with aggressive IV diuretics. She had one round Tuesday but by Wednesday morning her potassium was so low we had to bring that back up before the next round. Well, the next round started at 6:30 Wednesday night. (For those of you who don’t know about these things, IV diuretics mean trips to the bathroom about every 20-30 minutes.) Yep! All night long, me and Mama made that three foot trek from the bed to the potty-unhooking oxygen, unplugging the IV pole (it won’t hold a battery charge) and carefully moving her fragile self twice an hour until about 3:30 in the morning. Apparently cardiologists figure that if they are on 24 hour call, patients should be too. [#unblessed]
Heading home Thursday morning after little sleep on Wednesday night, I see blue lights behind me. I check my speed. Within the limit. I’m talking on the cell but not texting. I have no idea why I’m being pulled over.
License and registration. He tells me that the tag I have on my truck comes back to the Toyota Camry we own.
Now, you have to understand our family has many vehicles and they issued new tags this year. I didn’t pay close enough attention when taking them outside to put them on and got them mixed up. But “switching” tags is a serious offense. And then, OF COURSE, I had not put the new insurance card in the glove compartment-it was floating in my purse. (Thankfully I found it.) For about 10 minutes my heart was racing although I had already decided that if I got off with a ticket I’d pay it without blinking an eye. He did let me go but I’m convinced he thought I was a crazy woman who should have known better [#unblessed]
Today, I tried to get my injectable RA medicine shipped to the same pharmacy since my shot is due tomorrow. Went through the whole routine of getting the shipment set up and find out the earliest they can get it here is NEXT Thursday. When I probably won’t be here at all. [#unblessed]
I’m sitting here in my parents’ home, typing and taking a break. Because my oldest son may be here tomorrow. See, the largest, strongest and potentially deadliest hurricane is headed either for his home on the east side of Florida or for us here in the western panhandle-but we are further inland. My truck is stocked with bottled water and other supplies “just in case”. We don’t know if Mama will be released before Irma gets here or not but we’ll be OK. Who would have thought? It figures. [#unblessed]
Each incident adds stress to the system but none are really all that traumatic.
Because when you’ve buried a child, nothing short of death really rocks your world very much.
And I’ve learned to laugh (once the adrenaline wears off)-because if I don’t, I’ll just cry.
![[#unblessed] If You Don’t Laugh, You’ll Cry](https://thelifeididntchoose.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/well-thats-done-what-should-i-do-next-cat.jpg?w=447)
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