Tag Archives: Thank you

On this Mother’s Day

11 Sunday May 2014

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On this Mother’s day, I recognize so many of the amazing Mothers I know. I thank God for my amazing Mother and my  children who allow me to experience this wonderful blessing of motherhood. Girls, I love being your mother.

Today, I am so grateful for David’s Mother. She is very kind hearted with a beautiful smile. She always makes people feel welcome and loved. She is the reason that David was so sweet and affectionate. David always talked about all the wonderful things his Mommy did for him growing up. A lot of them were memories of little things that made his childhood extra special. Such as making green eggs and ham based on the Dr Suess book. Or giving him a bowl full of sugar to dip strawberries, or sticking pretzel sticks into a banana. His eyes twinkled with the excitement of a little boy when he shared some of the memories. I remember his happiness whenever we visited and his Mom had his favorite beef stew ready.

She is a woman of grace, a woman who still believes in the elegance of the past decades. Some of her taste in decor and jewelry has rubbed off on me.  My Sister and I jokingly refer to me as a 1950s wife based on my fondness for some of the retro/vintage things from that era. Many of the decor in our home are gifts David’s Mom has given us over the years. I hope to take care of them with the same great care so that my daughters can also enjoy having them in the future. This would further help in preserving David’s legacy.

Most especially, I admire David’s Mother’s strength. She has experienced one of the greatest loss in life, losing her dear son. A son who loved his mother to no end. A son who always brighten the house the moment he walked in to visit his parents. He knew just how to make his parent laugh and how to tease his mother until she believed he needed a smack. Despite her loss and the other personal challenges she has faced including the passing of David’s Dad last year, she continues to be very graceful, loving, and caring. She worries about my well-being and about her grandchildren – they are so dear to her heart.

I admire her for being a wonderful mother, grandmother, and wife. I admire how she filled their home with so much love. I recall David once saying that “even though my Mom worked, I always remember her being present”. This reflected how she was always active in his life and helping make the best memories. Hopefully, I can raise my daughters to say the same thing about me in the future.

A big thank you to my daughters (cough Sister) for the beautiful flowers. Also, the Mother’s day art and crafts they made. Thank you to everyone for Mother’s day messages, your calls and the cards. A very Happy Mother’s Day to all.

The Goodness of people

24 Thursday Apr 2014

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The pictures above reflect some of the random acts of kindness and thoughtfulness we have received recently from people simply based on reading the blog and recognizing my children’s interest in rainbows, painting, and art.

Each time I received a surprise care package in the mail, I am again overwhelmed with gratitude. I am reminded that David always believed in the goodness of people and I can truly attest to this more now than ever. Your love and support has been unprecedented. I really appreciate that people have not stopped thinking about us and the extreme difficulty of trying to cope with the loss of David.  Almost three months later, while life continues as business as usual for most in the world, the kindness and support continues – people are still calling, coming over to visit, and providing support in many ways as mention in a previous post.

These care packages have really brighten the home, the rainbow cookie was gone within seconds. The girls now have a rainbow that lights up the ceiling in their room at bedtime, and a rainbow decal on the wall over the bed. The Easter baskets came in so handy this weekend. It allowed the girls to have lots of fun decorating eggs and also to have an egg hunt. This was the first time we did an egg hunt at home, I was not planning to but my older daughter was really interested in either going somewhere in search of Easter eggs or as she suggested doing one at home. Luckily, the Easter care basket included everything we needed to have our very own egg hunt outside. The excitement on their faces as they found the eggs was priceless. I am ever grateful for everyone and everything that has been done by so many people that have helped in making my children happy. Thank you!

 

Strength from blog readers

22 Saturday Mar 2014

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It was the week leading to David’s passing that I decided that I was going to start blogging. I told my Sister and she agreed that it will be a good idea. The main motivation was because I had bottled so much up for so long and I felt that blogging will let me get it out.

After David passed, I was also motivated to blog in order to keep his legacy going, hoping it is something our daughters will read as they get older to continue to remind them of the amazing man their Dad was.

The only decision was whether to make the blog public or private. In a complete 180 degree from my usual modus operandi and without much hesitation I decided it will be public. I was inspired to share our story because while we were going through it, it felt like such a lonely world.

What I did not realize was that the readers of the blog (some I do not even know) will be source of strength for me. You guys have empowered me by reading the blog, by sharing your comments, by sharing your stories, with the poems, and by encouraging me to believe I am strong when it does not seem apparent to me.

I thank you so much for reading the blog, sharing your experiences, sharing my pain and anger with me, your prayers, your kind thoughts, letting me know when you can relate to certain posts, and for encouraging me to keep writing. I am sincerely grateful.

Thank you, thank you

02 Sunday Mar 2014

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Where do I begin?

Thank you for everything. Your love and support has been extensive.

The cards, the groceries, the flowers, fruit baskets, cookies, cupcakes, more sweet treats, stuffed animals, monetary gifts . The gift of time – visits, phone calls, text messages, emails, homemade meals, plowing snow to name a few.

Reading the cards brought hope to me and feeling of gratitude that people were thinking about us and sympathetic to our grief. The flowers and the plants brighten the house. The fruit baskets, brownies, chocolate, cookies, cupcakes and other sweet treat became a balanced diet for us – one note stated “lets sugar up the kids” it worked, they ran around the house filled with energy. The homemade meals warmed my heart and provided much needed nutritious calories.

For those that attended the funeral, thank you for making the trip. Many traveled hundreds of miles, others thousands of miles, left your young children at home, found tickets at the last minute and in many cases paid exorbitantly. We were surrounded by your love and this made the day easier.

Thank you to everyone that is reading the blog, this is my therapy. It is my outlet, it allows me to feel connected with David.

Below is a picture of a dear friend of the family, Richard who flew in to offer condolences plowing snow in his suit and dress pants.

snow plow

My Mommy, My Mother

27 Thursday Feb 2014

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Where would I be without you?

You have been there for me in everything. You know my temperament- the good, the bad, and the ugly. You were my outlet during a lot of the trials and tribulations as we dealt with David’s illness. When I broke down and knew I could not go on, you gave me the encouragement to carry on. You were a confidant to David, he told you things he couldn’t tell me because he worried about how I would handle it. You handled everything with your usual grace, assurance, faith, and calmness.

People often ask how we managed to maintain a normal routine at home and with our children as we battled David’s illness. You were definitely a key to this. You were the first person we informed about David’s illness and you were with us every step until the end.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you for the prayers, thank you for listening, thank you for making it possible for David to stay home until the end.  Thank you for showing David and I the extent of a Mother’s love, an unconditional love.

Your motherly and nurturing skills are beyond my abilities. I continue to learn from you and be inspired by you. I love you more than words can express. You are one in a million. I am truly blessed to have you as my Mommy, my Mother.