Remembering..

Seven years ago today our first son Jack was stillborn when I was 39 weeks pregnant. Around Jack's anniversary every year we not only remember him, being pregnant and the life we imagined having with him, we also remember the love and support we received in the days, months and even years since. We had a horrible thing happen but the wonderful care we received from our doctor and the hospital, the compassion and support from our families and friends and the gifts of rememberance that we received were truly amazing. We received so many cards, some from people we hadn't even met, friends of friends and family who heard about us and wanted to offer their condolenses. Some of the gifts of rememberance that we have around our home and still cherish today include a fountain in our yard from our family, wind chimes on our porch from our friend Kristen, a mothers ring with Jack's birthstone from my sister as well as countless dinners, many of them from my step-dad John. One amazing gift is our magnolia tree from our friends the Loebs and the Uriartes. You see the amazing thing about this magnolia tree is that it blooms only once a year right around Jack's anniversary. If we ever move then I think I will have to dig it out and take it with us. So to everyone who offered us love and support at our worst hour, thank you.

1/31 - I wrote this last week and used a photo that I took of our tree a few years ago because our tree has been slow to bloom this year. This morning we looked out and saw the very first bloom.