Thank You
It’s late in
the evening, but I wanted to post a few words in response to all of you for
your words of encouragement and support.
I really wasn’t sure what to expect with this first anniversary of Eric’s
passing. In response to my
confusion, I decided to keep things familiar by doing the things I ordinarily
do. Monday morning, we woke up early am as usual, we got ready for the day, and
I went to work while Ethan was with grandma. It hadn’t really hit me until I
started driving home from work in the pm. Like grief always does, it blindsided
me and knocked me off my feet. I kept thinking about those final moments. The
tears started pouring from my eyes and my anxiety shot up like a thermometer in
hot water. They didn’t stop until
Eric’s mom showed up at my front door later on that evening. Her timing couldn’t
of been better. I think Eric knew I needed support and the one person I counted
on the most while Eric was ill was his mom. She was wonderful and provided me
with opportunity for outpouring. We spoke of Eric at length and watched video
footage of him. Ethan loves to see his daddy on the camera. Eventually, Ethan
grew tired and it was time to say good-bye. I felt ten times better after
having spent some time with my MIL. I fell right to sleep after she left. The
next day, I stayed home from work. I was super tired, as expected. Spent the
day on the couch and relaxed. Last night, I took some time to read all the
comments left on my blog. I just want to thank all of you for the words of
encouragement. It really means a lot, especially in the wee hours of the night.
I’m grateful for all you share with me.
My father is
the most compassionate man I’ve ever known in my life. He’s been there since
day one and after Eric passed away, he did everything he could to help me with
the transition. Over the last year, he’s developed a close relationship with
Ethan. Ethan calls him “Papa Dwayne”. He spends the late afternoons with “papa”
while I’m at work. The two of them have a great time together. I finally put
together a layout about their special relationship. I took this photo of the
two of them together during the Summer months out near Papa’s backyard pond.
Every Summer, Ethan hangs out near the pond with Papa. My dad is a gardener by
trade, so the backyard is a fun place for little Ethan to hang out at. He just
loves being back there with Papa.
I created this
layout using some of Sassafras’s papers and embellishments. I also took out my
Slice machine and put it to work. I cut the flowers using the machine. I backed
the flowers with yellow color cardstock. I distressed them with ink and layered
them with various size flowers. I added the usual bling and attached the
flowers to the layout as shown.
I also added a
number of borders to this layout. I used a Sassafras border stamp and next to
the stamped border, I applied a Sassafras pattern paper border (one of their
funky pattern paper edges which I totally love.) Neither is noticeable. Note: I
never preplan layouts…some layers go hidden, which is often the result of my
indecisiveness. Unplanned creativity.
