Fuzzy Socks Remind Me of You

Dear Aaron,

I put my fuzzy socks on tonight. The ones I bought when we were at the hospital in November. So many purchased and worn out over the years; that happens when you're there for 529 days (and nights). These were the last ones I picked up and now I wear them a lot at home, 'cause I don't like cold toes, among other things.  They're soft, almost silky feeling, with rubber knobs on the bottom because hospital floors are slippery. So they were in my suitcase, not my drawer, and I didn't wear them here. Now I do. 

I was released as chorister today, and I have to admit, it hurts a little. I'm trying to trust that it's Father's will, that it's time. But I love leading and I love the focus I have when I'm leading. The Spirit speaks to me through music and it helps. I mean, I'll still be singing the hymns but somehow I don't always focus on them as much when I'm not leading. And the timing...  Well, most wards only have one chorister but because I was never sure if I'd be in church or we'd be at Primary's, we had three and we'd rotate. Now it will be just one again, but I was also back to where I'm not leaving suddenly anymore. 

Change is hard. Missing you is hard. Today things just hurt, again (or still). 

It's been a bit of a busy weekend, and a busy week to come. Yesterday Daddy and I went down to Cedar City to see Sarah and Joseph.  Joseph organized and conducted Rob Gardner's The Lamb of God. Sarah played clarinet. I loved watching him do what he loves, and the music touched my soul. I was struck again at Mary and Martha's faith. I mean, I can look back and have faith in the resurrection because Christ has already risen. That hadn't happened yet, and they still affirmed that they knew they would see their brother again. 

But sometimes, often, that day seems so far away, and as they performed, I was taken back again to your room early on December 23rd where my soul cried for you to return, to return now, for your body to move again and for you to be healed.  

Next week brings more changes. Andrew moves home for the summer on Wednesday, Matthew graduates Thursday and leaves for his last Folk Dance tour on Saturday. Sarah graduates on Friday. Dad is working from home most days now. Summer is coming and in one more month, Michael will graduate from high school and my public school years will officially be over. 

But the house also fills up most Sundays. I miss Joseph and Sarah, but today everyone else was here. Matthew and Kensey are going through his things upstairs getting ready for their move to Wisconsin when he comes back from tour. Andrew and Mary are still hanging around. David left a little while ago. Jonny, Avenlee and Elend have gone home and sometime in the next couple weeks will add another little one. Deborah, Bronson, Linnaea and Barrett were up here too and I got to hold him. Did you guys play together before he came? Are you still hanging out with your next new nephew? 

December 23. You had gone "home" that 
morning and Jonny's family wasn't
here yet, but the rest all came. 

I am so grateful to be your mom ('cause I still am!!) and grateful for your siblings, too. Yesterday, Michael and a bunch of kids from the ward went on a rappelling activity and two adults were injured, one quite severely. It was rough, but Michael handled it really well. I have to think it's because he's been exposed to so many emergency situations that he just kept his cool. But he was also coming home to an empty house 'cause Dad and I were going to be gone until late. In fact, we had considered just staying overnight in Cedar rather than trying to drive back. But when I learned what happened, I was worried about him being alone. One phone call to David and he was on his way to the house. And once there, Bronson also got involved and they all hung out downstairs together. 

It helps my soul to know your big kids have each other to depend on. I have to think that's in part because of you. You brought us together, taught us to pull together, and helped us see that when there's a problem, we all bring what we have to the table to make things better. That's a life lesson that can't be created artificially, not really. 

We miss you so much, but your legacy lives on. It's hard knowing you'll never have descendants to remember you, to carry your line, but still, you have made an indelible mark on our family, honestly on the world. You taught so many; your influence is still here. 

But really, I wish it was you, physically still here. I'm selfish that way. Trying to cling to hope, cling to my Savior. I know He lives, and you will someday too. But right now, I miss you.

Love you so much,
Mama

"Jesus Christ is our hope and the answer to life’s greatest pains."

- Jose L Alonso

Hope, and Who I Am

Dear Aaron,

It's been a few days...

That doesn't mean I haven't thought of you, not at all. In fact, Tuesday morning after a parent meeting for a client, Mom asked me how you were doing. Sigh....

I mean, I guess the truth is that you're doing just fine! Really. Me on other hand...

Well, I think of you all the time. 

On Tuesday morning when she asked, Tuesday evening when I picked up your things at the cemetery, and again when someone challenged us to think of our identity, our intrinsic identity, not just all the hats we wear. I guess you don't actually define me, and neither does our relationship, but all the same, you are definitely part of me. You changed me, for the better, but change hurts, and so does this.  

And Wednesday morning when I discovered that the mound above you was a bit too high and the lawn mower scalped the grass, which meant I made a trip to city hall (I truly love that I live in a small town) and talked to a friend who is also over the cemetery about it. She'll get it taken care of. I need your place to be beautiful, peaceful, and the idea that it will be a dirt patch that gets muddy just guts me all over again. While I was there, I saw a former neighbor who lost her own boy almost six years ago. 

And I thought of you when Facebook memories came up, and when I went by tonight, and frankly, pretty much all the moments in between.

But on the way home, I was listening to music and Hope by Paul Cardall came on. Honestly, his piano music plays almost constantly as it brings me so much comfort. But underneath the music, so faintly that at first I thought I was imagining it, I heard a child's laughter.  A Child. Laughter.  Hope.  And through my tears, I smiled. And cried and smiled. 

You used to laugh so much. I wish I had recorded your laughter but I don't think I did. Like so many moments, I simply enjoyed them because I thought there would be so many more. I was wrong. You really never did laugh again, not much, after February 2022. But in the song, I could hear it, hear you, and it touched my soul to know that you do now laugh. And run. And dance. And sing. And play. And I hope, oh I hope, you bend close and put your arms around me, even though I can't feel them. 

Michael did senior pictures yesterday with cousin Rachel. It really was a lot of fun, and they'll be our last senior pictures (like so many other lasts). Michael always wears an A around his neck for you, and I thought briefly about asking if he wanted to bring it out, let it be seen, but decided not to. I mean, these are his, about him, not about you.  

But then after taking several, he pulled it out. He positioned it in front of his tie, over his shirt, kept it on when we did track pictures. It's there, you're there. You are so, so important to him. And it made my heart smile. 

Your influence goes on. In the hearts of so many, you live on. 

Yesterday as I drove to Provo, I noticed the sun shining on the still snowy peaks, lighting the light blue sky with cotton-candy colored wispy clouds. This world is such a beautiful place. You, my son, are such a beautiful part of it, even if I can't see you anymore. 

I miss you so much. 

I love you so much.

Love,
Mama

The reason it hurts so much to separate is
because our souls are connected.

~Nicholas Sparks

Monday Night

Hey Aaron,

I'm sitting at home alone again (Dad's still at work and Michael is with friends) except the dogs that just opened the back door and came in. Still haven't convinced them that they also need to shut the door...

Anyway, it's super quiet here. I can hear the ice maker clicking away, and sometimes the snick of Sophie's toenails on the tile. That's about it. No whirring of the concentrator, whoosing of the vent. Somehow I still listen for those in the silence. Even at night, I find my ears straining to hear, but only cars outside pass by.

Today's actually been a pretty good day. I mean, it's cloudy and rainy, but we did have some sunshiney days over the weekend, so that helped. 

And yesterday most of the kids were here for dinner, which meant so were Linnaea and Elend and Barrett. Oh, it feeds my soul to have your brothers and sisters, brother and sisters in law, and niblings here. We were just missing Joseph and Sarah, and Matthew and Kensey. And of course you. 

Yesterday in church, Michael bore a powerful testimony of how the Lord is in the details of our lives, and that sometimes when we think something should work out differently, it turns out for the best after all.  Because of a misunderstanding last month, he ended up not competing in a meet that he thought he would, and he had already given away his work shift. But that meant that he was able to go to the temple with some friends instead. And it wasn't just one temple he went to, it was three: Mt Timpanogos, Draper, and then Saratoga Springs. And while he was there, he took time to go to where we all stood for pictures after the tour, and remembered you. 

Aaron, he is so amazing, just like you. 

And I guess I'm trying to feel the same way about you leaving. I have faith in Father's plan, that this was what was needed, but I'm still not quite seeing the big picture, not yet.

I love you, Aaron. I don't know how I was so fortunate to have been blessed with so many amazing kids. Every single one of you are a blessing in my life. I am so grateful.

I miss you.

I love you even more.

Love,
Mama

"The death of a loved one is a sudden silence —
one of those deafening silences that leaves ringing in your ears."

~Terri Guillemets 

Some Days are Hard

Dear Aaron,

Some days are just hard. And there's not a real "reason."

I sat with a sweet friend in Relief Society today and someone else was talking about having her son appear right by her side the day after he died in a plane crash. Honestly, I'm not sure whether my friend asked me, or I asked her ('cause I know I was thinking about it as we listened) if we had felt our loved ones. I think she asked me. I know I said no, I hadn't felt you with me, although I've dreamed about you three times. She said she hadn't felt hers either. 

The teacher asked if we'd ever felt alone, and what we had done, or what happened, or something like that. (I think that might have been what prompted the story.) I just couldn't...

I know I'm not "alone" but it feels like it so often, especially somehow in the middle of a group. 

Anyway, I know I'm not alone. I know God is with me. I know Christ knows what it feels like and understands. I am so grateful for the Atonement and the Resurrection, but still... 

Like I said, some days are just hard.

And this is one of them.

Oh, my baby, I miss you so much. 

The weather is getting warmer, the sky is brighter, and it helps my spirits.

But nothing takes your place or fills the Aaron-sized hole in my heart. 

I just miss you.

Love,
Mama

"This I know: there is nothing as lonely as grief."

~Abby Geni 

Memories

Dear Aaron,

Memories seem to be coming at me. 

Yesterday, Daddy and I went to Westlake's ballroom concert. It caught me by surprise because we don't have kids there, at least as students. But Jonny and Deborah are coaching the team so we went to support them. 

And they actually did a number! It was the second show of the night and doing two shows in one night was more than the special needs dance class was able to handle, so the coaches threw together a couple numbers to fill in the gaps in the second show. Deborah and Jonny looked amazing, and it was so much fun to watch them again.

And then in the senior number, it was almost like watching Deborah, and then David, and Jonny, and Matthew, and finally Joseph dance their final shows. As Jonny announced it and gave tribute to each senior, I heard his voice catch. Coaching is such a labor of love for both him and Deborah. Watching the kids perform, all of them, filled my own soul. 

And I thought about you dancing, how you would dance in your wheelchair when we would go to shows. And you would dance each year at your own dance festival. During the pandemic, they held it online and we sent in video to participate. Now you dance without limits.  

I stopped by the cemetery after and it was dark, 'cause you know that happens when it's 9:30 at night. With the seasons changing, it's now light when I get there after work. But last night, last night it was dark. And your little lights were on, and I could see your place, shining in the darkness, giving my own heart a little lift. I mean, I cried, but I also smiled.

I've been thinking about a couple phone calls I made 14 years ago. One was to a neighbor, and another to a friend I hadn't seen since we were in college. Both had buried babies, boys in fact. I didn't know how to move forward. I was carrying you, and you were so active pretty much all the time. But doctors were telling me that you wouldn't, probably couldn't, live, and I just couldn't fathom how to go on.

I really don't remember much of what either said, but I knew they had somehow survived it, and if they could, so could I. And for almost 14 years, I clung to that.

Now, I live it. And somehow the world goes on. I'm still not quite sure how, and I couldn't tell someone how to survive, but the fact is, it does, and I am surviving, at least I think I am. 

I still miss you dreadfully. Two months from today is your 14th birthday and I don't think there's a day that goes without at least a few tears. But Aaron, you taught me so much, you helped me, you are my own personal angel. What a blessing to have been allowed to know you and love you, and to look forward to when we are together again.

Love you so much, kiddo.

Miss you too. 

Memory is time folding back on itself.

~Garth Stein

Ignorance is Bliss?

Aaron & Linnaea May 2023

Hi Aaron,

Tonight I picked up Linnaea again from ballroom practice and brought her home, and we stopped by the cemetery. She asked why, and I told her it was so I could tell you goodnight. 

She thought we would see you. I so wish...

She asked where you were, so I told her that your body was there, but your spirit, the real part of you, was with Heavenly Father and Jesus in heaven. 

The next question?

"Where's heaven?"

Oh baby, I wish I knew, I really do. And when I told her I didn't know, she said she didn't either. She asked when we would see you again, and I had to tell her not for a long, long, long time.

I did tell her that They love you even more than we do, and that's a whole lot! And then I silently cried because I needed to not upset her. She is so innocent and just took it all in. I envy her faith and trust.

I was looking back today at some of my older posts, trying to find some information for another mama, and was struck anew with how miraculous your life was. And how precarious. And how I truly had no clue.

So many times...

So close...

And I honestly had no idea. Or maybe it's because it wasn't your time yet. 

In looking back, I found where I asked Daddy if it was strange that every Thanksgiving I wondered if we would still have you here for Christmas. That was back in 2018, and I remember every single year that thought went through my mind. 

Except 2023.

Oh, the hubris...

When we went in on the night of the 9th and your viral panel came back positive for Flu A, I figured maybe five days in the hospital, well before Christmas. And then the 13th hit and I realized it wasn't going to be quite that quick, but still, it would happen. 

Even on the night of the 22nd, I was pretty sure that even though we would celebrate Christmas in the hospital (again), we would be home by the 26th or 27th at the latest.

The 26th found Daddy and I at the mortuary choosing your casket, determining your resting place, buying burial clothes.  The 27th I cleaned out all of your medical supplies and sent them away. And the 28th, the day I was sure you would be home by, we dressed you one last time.

Oh Aaron, the last two days were actually pretty good ones. But today, oh today...

I was doing okay, returned your stone and flowers to the cemetery and went to work. And then I saw the news reporting a possible active shooter situation at SUU, you know, where Sarah and Joseph are, and my heart stopped again. I grabbed my phone, fumbled to open it to text them, and then saw Joseph's text that they weren't on campus and were safe.

But Aaron, for those few seconds... 

I now know what it is like to lose a child, to bury my baby. Just ... just no. 

And then going by to tell you goodnight.

Goodnight, my son. 

I love you.

Miss you.

"Ignorance is bliss. I wish I still had some."

- Adam Pascal 

The Feels...

Hey kiddo,

I stopped by Westlake today and picked up Linnaea. It's concert week which means Deborah is tied up there until late every night and Linnaea isn't nearly as much help as she thinks she is. Since I work just down the road on Tuesday and Thursday, I go back after and rescue both of them. 😉

But anyway, she missed her mom almost immediately and was sad on the way home, so I handed her my stuffies from my dashboard, plus the two that don't fit and are kept in the glovebox. 

They kept her busy for a little while. But then we talked about feelings. I told her it was okay to be sad, because when we miss someone it's because we love them. And when we're sad, we cry. She asked where my mom was (because that's her frame of reference, that's who she was missing) and I told her my mom is all the way in Arizona, and I miss her. And I miss you. She said she missed you, too, and her mom, and her dad and Barrett 'cause they're a family and are supposed to be together.

Yeah, families are supposed to be together. And I have faith that we will be. 

Today was an "okay" kind of day, Aaron. Getting going was a little rough, but no rougher than it has been and not as bad as many days. I was worried about taking her to the cemetery to pick up your things tonight; I worried about how she would take it.

But it didn't seem to phase her at all. She helped gather your things, and then she wanted to gather them for other people. Oops! I persuaded her that we needed to just do yours. She really was pretty matter of fact, like she was when she asked "where are we" when your room was cleaned out. 

We are so blessed to have her in our life, and Barrett and Elend. And I'm so excited for your next nephew to come, but hopefully a few more weeks away. 

I'm trying to be open to my feelings. There's grief and pain, but also comfort and sometimes glimmers of joy. They kinda all get mashed together: joy and hope and sorrow and wonder and anger and love and maybe even excitement (sometimes). 

I miss you, kiddo. I miss you so much. It's very strange to pick up your stone and flowers from the cemetery and put it in my car. When I look back, it is so bare. And honestly, there aren't a lot of stones right by you anyway. The plots have been purchased but not needed yet. 

It comes in waves, Aaron. Saturday was hard, Sunday was okay. Yesterday I completely broke down and lost it. And today, it's not as bad, at least yet. 

I'm starting to find my sea legs; I don't like it, but I'm learning to live with it anyway. I mean, it's not like there's really another option. I hope you're looking down and know how much you're loved. My precious, precious child. I love you.

“Often the test of courage is not to die but to live.”

– Conte Vittorio Alfieri