This morning I went to the Student of the Month Assembly at Abigail’s school. I was invited by her dear friend Grace because she was chosen for student of the month. I am honored she asked and feel blessed to be able to be a part of her celebrations. I loved looking across the gym and making eye contact with her, both of us feeling joy to be in each other’s lives.
During the assembly I stood next to Abigail’s teacher and felt her love and support; being in that space was very difficult for me and she knew that. October 17th was the last time I was at an all-school assembly, Abigail was participating in a dance-off and won. Unfortunately I didn’t see her dance (although I do have a video of it now) but did see her excitement when announced as the winner. Of course I was proud and smiled knowing her dad would be so happy that all those late night dance parties paid off.
I was standing by the exit door when her teacher lead the kids out of gym and I could see that Abigail was surprised to see me at first, her school was not typically one that I taught at. As a sixth grader, Abigail’s reaction to me was a little different than Anna’s. She was out of the running, hugging and kissing phase. I told her that I wouldn’t embarrass her too much if I ever saw her at school; so I gave her a smile and walked over to her and her friends. She hugged me, and told me with pride that she just won the dance off. She was excited to see me and my heart was happy.
Today I stood in the gym looking around at Abigail’s world. A world she loved to be in. She loved her school, she loved her friends, she loved her teacher and I know that she would have gotten student of the month this year. I know, because I asked and her teacher said she would have.
So proud of my Abigail and Grace!
Thank you Miss Grace for letting me be part of your world, for being a role model to Anna and best friend to Abigail. You are truly a blessing to our entire family. Love you!
No words today just a picture of my girl in her pink flowered boots.
These boots, that were on her feet when her soul went to Heaven, are going to make it back into her closet this afternoon. She loved her Goodwill boots that we found for $6.99. I loved how she coordinated outfits around them, often times mismatched and not a care in the world of what others would think.
I think she is beautiful, on the inside and the outside!
We would sit every night at the dinner table talking about our day. Tom and Abigail on one side of the table and Anna and I on the other. Anna often needed to be reminded to stay seated, always finding a reason to get up and get something that was forgotten. Abigail liked to pick through her food, no mushrooms, onions or cooked carrots for her even if they were hidden deep inside that nights concoction. Our conversations were about friends, work, playdates and school. I loved this time during the day, everything slowed down as we shared a meal together. When we were almost done with dinner the plans for after dinner activities started to formulate: board games, dance parties and, more often than not, heading over to the District Office park for some hot lava tag.
After clearing the table and helping with dishes the girls would head over to Jacob and Michael’s house to see if they could play. After we finished the final touches of cleaning up the kitchen and tea was made, Tom and I would then make our way over to the park. There we would find kids hanging, sliding and running from the “lava monster”, who was trying to tag someone while keeping their feet on the ground. If the monster felt lucky they could hop up and try to tag someone as quickly as they could, only having 5 seconds, which was being counted off by all of the monster’s prey. Lots of laughter, and sometimes the occasional declaration of not feeling the game was fair, was heard by all the neighbors that lived around the park. So many good times were had in this space, the District Office playground, or what we like to call “our yard.”
Yesterday afternoon Tom and I met with a group of Anna and Abigail’s friends to begin planning the playground remodel. With tears in my eyes I told the kids that we needed their help to figure out what we should build. Their task was to draw their ideal playground, keeping Anna and Abigail close to mind while doing so. “Pie in the sky” I told them, whatever they would like to see – put that down on paper.
The talk around the table consisted of what my girls like to do while playing on the playground. Anna liked to swing, spin and climb. Abigail liked to play tag and “hang out” with her friends. Both girls loved being outside. One theme that emerged from a lot of the drawings was the idea of a giant tree with slides and zip lines coming from the top. There were some cool water features, rock walls and lots of ropes to hang from. I wish we could create every single drawing but I know that, when the kids sit down at the next meeting, with assistance from my new friend Martha and my dear friend Tom Gamble, they will begin to see their ideas merge together and begin to become a reality.
The thought of incorporating their friends into this process has been there from the beginning when we first thought this would be a perfect way of honoring our girls in their community. Tom and I could have gone through the books and picked out what we thought the girls would love but having the kids, Anna and Abigail’s playmates, be part of the process seemed to be a way to honor their friendships. Our girls have a lot of friends and they meant the world to them.
Immersing yourself in meaningful purposeful work (thank you Amy), is what I find helps me through some of my emptiest times without my girls. Being able to provide this type of process to their friends feels good and also gives them an outlet to celebrate their friendships with Anna and Abigail. I’m already looking forward to our next meeting where we dig into the books and start piecing all their ideas together.
We are not just building a play structure but giving the whole park a makeover, ideas include a larger picnic area for community potlucks, birthday parties or for pre-teens to “hang-out”; decorated animal cut-outs that will line the fence, poles with long ribbon streamers to blow in the wind and a more universal surface so that all kids can access the play space. These are just a few ideas we’ve had and I’m sure there will be more that come from the kids.
We are striving to make it the best community park EVER!
We are amazed daily at the love and support we receive from our community. We are hoping that this park will not only honor our girls but give back to the community that has supported us through this journey.
It’s so good to be home. I love our space that we share with our girls and being away from it is so hard sometimes. I just came in from lighting candles for my girls, like I do every night, and spending some time by their tree. Oh how I missed their tree while we were away. Looks like Stanley did some more damage. I sure hope he and Sally are comfy in their little hole.
Tom and I had a good time in Seattle this weekend, visiting a city that was frequented a lot by our family in the past couple of years.
We spent Anna’s 6th birthday there with her first trip to the American Girl Doll store. My mom and dad met us for a really fun weekend exploring the Pike Place Fish Market and swimming in a heated outdoor swimming pool. I’m not sure what the kids were more excited for, watching fish flying through the air or swimming at the hotel pool.
This summer we made a stop at the Seattle Aquarium on our way to Orcas Island for our family camping trip. We explored the city, ate our favorite giant snickerdoodle cookies and enjoyed walking along the waterfront. Mama, of course, took lots of pictures to chronicle both trips. There were smiles, laughter and, I’m sure like any family experiences on a family vacation, a little bit of sibling fighting. We were all looking forward to our next adventure to Seattle in the spring or summer of 2014.
This trip, with just Tom and I, was very different than before. We talked ahead of time about not going down to the market or visiting any of the places we went with the kids, we wanted to preserve the memories we had during those times for just a bit longer.
On Saturday afternoon we found ourselves buying a giant snickerdoodle cookie and standing next to the big bronze pig, the same one Anna sat on holding her new American Girl Doll. Hardly keeping it together, Tom and I both recognized that there are some places where there will always be a void when we visit without our girls in toe.
I was waiting for the giant rainbow to appear in the sky but instead there was just rain. Doesn’t mean our girls weren’t with us, it just means that sometimes the conditions aren’t right for a rainbow – and when they go to sprinkle the dust it just gets wet.
I asked Anna to stand still so I could take her picture. This is what she did. As I looked down the street onto the Public Market today I thought of this moment. My girl knows exactly what to do to put a smile on her Mama’s face.
This morning I went to the Student of the Month Assembly at Abigail’s school. I was invited by her dear friend Grace because she was chosen for student of the month. I am honored she asked and feel blessed to be able to be a part of her celebrations. I loved looking across the gym and making eye contact with her, both of us feeling joy to be in each other’s lives.
love-drenched-life.com 