The Count Down Has Begun

The count down has begun, February 14th, five more days until the day that my life turned upside down nine years ago February 19th, I can honestly say that was the darkest day that I have yet experienced in my life.  Brandon's death occurred nine years ago, I have looked back into my journals and see that I have made progress with my grief.  It isn't as raw as it once was, but it still hurts, aches is more the word that appropriately describes it.  After the 19th, then 9 more days until the February 28th, Brandon's birthday.  February is a month that is hard for me, I cannot wait until March, then I know I have made it through another year facing the month of February.  Life is not easy for anyone, but for those of us who have lost children, our world is very different.  We know the reality of having a child die before their parent, very unnatural, it just isn't suppose to be that way.  We do not have the opportunity to watch that child, who we gave life to, go on with their future.  We ourselves do go on, watch our other children grow, this gives us joy, because we know what a gift this is, something others might take for granted.  The death of my child has given me clarity on many things, put life in perspective, has taught me that you really don't know what you have until it is gone.  We can lose many things in our life that we believe is important, but until you have experienced the loss of a child, I feel you don't fully understand that what you think is important might not be at all.  My daughter is my top priority in my life, even though she is almost 22 years old, I feel blessed that God gave her to me.  She literally saved me, without her I don't think I could have survived Brandon's death.   I wish again that I didn't have to learn this lesson through my son's death.  I wish I could go back in time knowing what I know now and tell Brandon how much I love him, I know I would handle things differently if I could.  The days of February are sorrowful for me, but I will celebrate March, the month that I was blessed with my daughter.  I just wish I could have been able to watch both of my children grow into adults.  I often wonder what Brandon would be doing now with his life, maybe he was spared from the turmoil that we all experience during our lifetimes, the sadness, disappointment, but he also missed out on the joys.  I have to believe that he is now in heaven with my dad, watching over us.  I feel positive that I will see him again, I have to hold on to that.

February is Approaching

I don't know how to explain it, but here I am writing in this blog to see if it helps me relieve some of my anxiety that I am feeling knowing that the month of February is approaching.  I am trying to iron shirts this morning and my mind just keeps thinking that the dreaded month of February will be here soon.  It is as if my whole nervous system is on high alert, I feel as if I am ready to crawl out of my own skin.

If will be nine years since my son died and still I feel this way as the day of his death gets closer.  Then his birthday comes nine days later, I am angry that I don't have him to celebrate with.  I often wonder if I will ever get over this feeling, but year after year, I feel the same way.

You have to have experienced this type of trauma to understand it, because it is so hard to explain.  Not only does my mind race, but my body, my heart hurts.  I write in this blog to help me with my emotions.  Sometimes when I feel like this, I really feel a bit crazy, I am a control freak and I cannot control my own feelings and it drives me over the edge.

So again, I write in this blog and take a deep breath, try to understand that this is something I will have to live with my entire life and as time goes on I just cope, hopefully better with each passing year.  I think that is wishful thinking, because it doesn't get better, I just accept the reality that my son is gone and I need to do my best to go on with my life.

Grateful Today for Lessons Taught

Grief is something that never ends, it grows weaker but it is always there.  It affects me in so many different ways, sometimes I am just angry, other times I feel sad and then there is that feeling that something is wrong or something awful is going to happen.  I try to face these feelings and realize that these are normal for a parent who has lost a child, but I wish I could just make them go away.  I do accomplish and live my life pretty normal, whatever normal is.  Everyone has their own interpretation of normal.  

This year I am going to make an effort to take care of myself better.  I have some ideas on what I want to do, now I just need to do them.  I am so blessed to have been raised by two parents who loved me, my father was a special man who taught me about the important things in life.  I love my brothers and they love me.  My daughter is my light, I am so excited for her to start her journey after college, I know I will be proud of her, I wish her happiness and adventure.  I would like to think that I can take a bit of that unconditional love my dad showed me and give it back to her.   All of these people I have mentioned I know I can count on in my dark times.  My mother might not be able to show me that she understands what I am saying, but when I go by and talk to her, I feel that we connect.  I need to go more often, it is hard since my dad has died, because I miss him not being there too.  My brothers make me feel secure, being around both of them gives me a peaceful feeling.  My daughter and I argue at times, but she knows that I love her more than life and I know she loves me. As I have said, she is my light and keeps me looking toward the future.  

I thank God that I was raised in a household that taught me that blood (family) is important and that my siblings feel that also.  I am sad that Brandon had to leave and Brittni doesn't have this same connection in her life.  I know he would have been there for her no matter what, that was the way Brandon was, even though he didn't always show it.  He was protective of his sister.  I have to believe that Brandon and my Dad are now helping me on my journey of life, by the things that they both taught me while they were here.  I have a feeling I am going to need all the knowledge and strength that I can find to make this a good year and full of right decisions.   I am determined to improve myself.

A New Year

The end of 2010 is near, what will the future hold for 2011.  I wish I had a crystal ball and could look into the future to see what is going to happen.  I feel a need to always be on alert, ready for something to happen.  This hasn't always been the way I have felt, but even since Brandon's death nothing seems to be the same for me.  I feel as if I have to prepare myself for the next ball to drop....on October 1, 2010 it did, another death I had to deal with, my father,  I tried to prepare myself for that, I had, but still I felt the pain of losing another person who I loved.  I miss him.....I miss Brandon, Brandon's death has prepared me for almost anything.  I lived through that...I know I can get through anything, except losing another child.  I couldn't ever do that again.  My emotions have been all over the place, probably because of the holidays, Brittni, Jay and I cannot experience the same joy that most people can, we have a big piece of our family puzzle missing.  I know it must be hard for people to understand, because it has been almost 9 years, in our society it seems as if most feel as if you must move on, you do, but the void is always there.  Since Brandon has died Brittni has become very emotional every Christmas, her emotions are conflicting, she is excited about the holiday, but then when it comes the pain of the loss is ever present.  Jay tries to be positive, but you can see the pain in his face too.  For me, I openly admit that I dread Christmas.  But I am going to try to look forward to the New Year.  I have some very important celebrations coming up....Brittni is graduating from college, I cannot believe it, I am so proud of her.  Tanner, my nephew, who is currently living at our house, will be graduating high school, he has worked hard to make up for some past mistakes, I knew he could do it.  This next year I will be working on myself, clear my mind from clutter that I allow others to cause.  Look forward to trying to find more peace, let go of negative energy, I do have trouble with this....I am sorry to admit.  I am happy with the person I am, I am flawed, damaged goods as I call myself, but that is okay, because I am a product of my life experiences both good and bad.  I am a work in progress and will try to use 2011 to better prepare myself for what is to come.

Dreams of a Brighter Future

Another month has gone by, time flies, and here I am contemplating my life again.  We all get caught  up in our daily routines that sometimes we stop dreaming of our future.  Life is not easy, I believe this to be true for everyone, even those we think have a perfect life I am sure they have had some hard times in one way or the other.  I am probably a bit unique on what I want for my future.  I don't want to live the status quo life that most of us end up living, I want to experience new things, new cultures and out of the ordinary experiences, but here I sit on my computer writing this blog instead of going out and making my dream a reality.  Maybe that is all it really is, a dream.  I need to find the courage to explore my possibilities, my life has had more than its share of pain, maybe that is why I feel the need to live my life in a different way than most.  I need to be more proactive with living my dream, but is it frightening, we all get so caught up in our  day to day life and for most change is difficult.  But you know, the only one that can make my dreams of a future come to light is me.  Yes, I have others that I need to take into consideration, that is what I have always done, put their needs above my own.  I think is just my nature and my priority has and will never be myself, first and foremost, it is my daughter.  She is 21 years old now, an adult, but still my baby and always will be.  I realize because of my son's death that children are our most precious gift we can receive here on earth, at least for me.  She has her own life to live, but every idea that I have about my own life I think of how it will affect her.  Brittni still suffers emotionally from the trauma she has lived through, I feel that I need to protect her from anything that will cause her more pain.  This isn't reality because life is all about joy and pain.

I want to live near the ocean, where I can hear the crashing waves, because this is calming to me.  I would like to try a more simple life with less stress.  Everyday I would like to take a moment to really look at nature, the sunset, the ocean, the birds and appreciate what we were given, instead of worrying about everything.  This is probably something everyone would like to have, most of us think is isn't possible, but I believe that if there is a will there is a way.  I am sure that we have to give up some things to attain others and change is difficult.  It is hard to change habits and lifestyles that we have had for years, but sometimes I believe it is necessary to find our true self.

I am going to start writing down a list of what I need to do to make my life more peaceful, that is a start and then decided what items on the list is really a possibility, because I know some on the items will not be possible for me, I know that even before I start.  Maybe I need to find a way to let go of what I think I should do and learn to act more on what I want to do.  This is easy to say, but hard to do.

Tribute to My Father

I spoke at my father's funeral, along with my two brothers.  It was such a great tribute to our father, he was a great dad.  I wanted to share my words on my blog,  so anyone who reads it can see how lucky I was to be blessed with my father for 52 years.

I feel so lucky to have had Cleo Seabourn as a father.  He gave me the gift of unconditional love, no matter what I did; I always knew that he would be there for me.  He was generous and always willing to help his children, wanting to make sure we were all okay.  He was a one of a kind, I am so proud of him.  Later in life he would ask me if he had done all he could have for us kids, with tears in his eyes, you could see how important that question was.  I think he sometimes doubted himself, but there was never a reason he should have. I was his baby girl, he made me feel special, appreciated, loved and as my brothers can attest to, spoiled.  My brothers were a source of pride for my dad, he taught them how to do everything, and he was a jack-of-all-trades.  He sometimes gave them a hard time, I think it was because they were boys and he wanted them to be a little rough and tough.  But his love was just as strong, always there to lend a helping hand to them when needed in any way he could.

He had three granddaughters, Vicki, Brandi and Brittni.  He loved each of these girls, there was never a day that went by when I was visiting that he didn’t ask how my daughter Brittni was doing, even when he grew so weak.  Vicki and Brandi are much older than my children, but I watched him with them and all the love he gave them.  Nothing would keep him from his grandchildren.  My son, Brandon was his buddy, even during the tough teen years, my father had such a positive influence on him, always patient and kind, when everyone else had been tested.  They all loved their grandpa. His love carried on to his great grandchildren, he had only four grandchildren, but ten great-grandchildren. My father was also a dedicated husband, who pushed through his pain on a daily basis to be at home to help my mother with Alzheimer’s.  Even during the last days of his life, his first priority was my mother.

Cleo Seabourn was a great man, the best in my eyes, and I do thank God for giving me the opportunity to be his daughter. He instilled in our family a bond, honesty and taught us to stand up for what we believe.  Family was important no matter what was going on, he loved it we were all together.  We had wonderful Christmas together, and my dad’s eye would light up seeing everyone together.  Thank you dad for teaching me the lessons of life that are really important, family, hard work, pride in yourself and loyalty.  Family is meant to help one another in times of need, that is what is right and this was taught by watching him.  I hope those of us left behind carry on this lesson.  Thank you dad for giving me the love and nurturing that I needed growing up, you were the best father a girl could have had. I love my dad and always will.  And the last thing I ask of you dad, is to do me one more favor, take care of Brandon for me, since you had to leave us, I am thankful that you are with him, buddies together again.  The time has come for you to go home and enjoy heaven with all your loved ones; we will see you there.

Finding Strength in Sadness

I feel as if there are times that I just want all of my memories to go away, so I don't have to think of what I am missing.  Of course this isn't the answer, if that were to happen then I would be just empty and not be able to remember all of the good in my life.  Sometimes my mind just thinks crazy things, I look at pictures and struggle to remember every detail of that moment, because the person in the photo isn't here any more. My father's death has brought on thoughts of my son's death, which isn't really anything that new because I think of Brandon always, the difference is it makes me realize again that life is short.  We don't say I love you enough to the people who matter to us.  We never realize that every conversation we have with them could be our last.  You really don't think this way normally, I even now don't always process this.  But when I take a moment to quiet my mind and think about life, I know all of us need to let the ones we love know.

My trauma has given me strength and I guess it was one of my life lessons that I was suppose to learn, I don't like it, but it is the hand I was dealt.  I don't cope that well, I find that it is easier for me to feel angry, it is my way to protect myself I think.  I have been told that this isn't healthy, I know it isn't, I think it is just that when you heart hurts you want to replace that feeling with another emotion, because it is sometimes easier.  I know it must be hard to understand this concept, because we are meant to view life as full of promise and joy, there are those times, but once who have been shattered, it is harder to put yourself back together and feel optimistic.  I am working on in daily, there are times that it is easier than others.  Today is a day that my thoughts have turned inward and my heart is aching.  I want what I do not have and I cannot do one thing about it.  So I need to refocus my mind, to more positive and important things, I will think of Brittni and all the promise her life holds.  I will think about what I have to look forward in my future.  I will make a mental note to think about what I want out of life and try to achieve it to the best of my ability.

I want a change, don't want to just do what everyone does, I find myself wanting to be adventurous, I need to let myself fulfill these yearnings.  So I will try to lay out a plan and follow it.....I want to live my life on my terms.  I need to just find the strength to do so.