Life After Levi

I signed up a while ago to be apart of a study on grief and just completed a survey. It's detailed (meaning it took longer than five minutes to complete- luckily Madalyn is napping now) but I felt it was worthwhile... if you have some time they want to hear the views of parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings and friends who have experienced the death of a child. http://tearstudy.org I'm not sure if I misrepresented my grieving or not... it asked questions about the last seven days. If you'd asked me three weeks ago or two months ago my answers would've been different. I don't know if it was the focus of October 15th or not but I was definitely an emotional wreck for about a week. I haven't been hit with too many waves of grief in a while so in an odd sort of way its felt good to just let the tears come. Its given me a different perspective on things. Its hard to grieve and parent at the same time. I had never realized how in some ways it was a blessing ...

  Most people associate their babies when they see butterflies, dragonflies or cherubs... not me... not exactly anyway. When I see those things I think of other people's losses, just not mine. I connect to elephants. Go figure. I'm just weird like that. I feel that the elephants chose me though- not the other way around :) Maybe it started with my mom always calling me her baby elephant when I would sit on her lap much past the point I actually fit. Maybe it was the safari bedding I selected for the nursery. Soon after we lost Levi I wrote this post . I was aching to talk about Levi and my grief and sorrow and yet had no idea how. I was constantly feeling as though his death was a giant elephant in the room. While I feel differently now and can speak of Levi with more ease and less sorrow, though it happens less frequently, I have not forgotten the early days of loss either. Around the same time we were creating a memorial garden and looking for a fountain. My husband ...

One of the typical questions I now get asked is whether or not Madalyn is my first. I generally answer the same way each time. I reply 'sorta or not exactly' and go on to say that I had a son who was stillborn. I wonder if people think I'm strange because while I'm sure they probably expect a shaky voice and tears after they know the answer it isn't the look they see on my face. Instead there's generally a smile when I reply. Not a big goofy grin by any means... But I can feel the corners of my mouth turned up. It isn't that I'm happy that he died- but I'm happy to have the opportunity to share that he was here.

I was looking up quotes for father's day and here's one I came across in my search: "It kills you to see them grow up. But I guess it would kill you quicker if they didn't." -Barbara Kingsolver I hope we get to watch Madalyn grow up and then later down the road watch her children as they grow up. Already it feels as though she's growing much too fast but I would much prefer that then the alternative. For those of you struggling this Father's Day, I wish you peace and send you my love.

    She'll be raised as our oldest... but will forever be a second child. She'll know who he was... but never who he is. They are both loved and adored... but she gets kisses and hugs while he gets tears and broken dreams. She's in my arms... he remains in my heart. They were both 7 lbs 8 oz at birth... but only she will grow as the days and years go by. His silence brings me to tears... her tears remind me of the life she has. His garden was planted to remember him... her's was painted to bring her smiles and sunshine. I look at her and remember the brief moments with him... I think of him and remember to cherish each and every moment with her. I will be the type of parent I am to her because I didn't get to parent him. I took pictures of both to preserve each moment... but I'll get to have many more moments with her and many more photos to take. I have one of the only outfits he wore packed away- stained with his blood... I'll soon be packing away the outf...

Today I was thinking of how thankful I am for the sacrifice Christ made for me- and for you. One thought led to another... And my heart soon became heavy with sorrow. I'd like to apologize. -I'm sorry if you have ever been hurt by a Christian whose actions did not exemplify the love of Christ. I've been there- I know how frustrating it can be feeling that there's just hypocrisy. Please- focus on Christ and the love he proclaimed for you. -I'm sorry if no one has shared the word of God with you. I'm often guilty of feelings of inadequacy when sharing my faith- worried that I might not have all the answers to all possible questions. Truthfully- I don't- but that shouldn't stop me from sharing. For those of you that know me just through the blog I do share my thoughts and reflections about my faith but it feels safer here somehow- I can ponder the things I write before posting... And well... Blogs tend to be monologues rather than dialogues. Pleas...

Passover- I wonder what the Pharaoh thought when Moses told him that all the firstborn sons would die in the night. Was my heart hardened when I first had that inclination? Or was God just preparing my heart heart for the loss to come? Did Pharaoh even tell the other Egyptians? Would it have mattered? Obviously word quickly spread through the Israelite community and they prepared... the blood of the lambs protected them. I'm so grateful for the blood of The Lamb that protects me still. The angel of death has visited my household- but while it robbed Levi of his breath, it did not steal his eternal life, nor did it rob me of my hope. We go from Passover- a celebration that death did not stop at the Israelite homes. A celebration I feel I can not partake in... but then Easter comes... and while death had occurred, it did not have power over the grave!! That's something worth celebrating to me! I wonder what Jesus thought of the irony as he sat to dine at his final Passover feast?...