Friday, October 31, 2014

I miss you more with every passing day...

My heart shatters into a million little pieces with every holiday that comes and goes without my son.  Every passing season and holiday is a reminder of what we once had......what we no longer have....and how we learn to live without Carter.  When a parent loses a child, a part of us is gone too and a part of our future, hopes and dreams.  Losing Carter is a heavy, heartbreaking pain to live with every day. Holidays will never feel fully complete without him.  Oh, how much we miss him.












I will hold onto my son in my heart and know that he rests in Jesus and I will see him again one day.

Love you, sweet boy.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Grief Wish List

MY GRIEF WISH LIST

Author Unknown


If you have been through grief you will relate to this. If you are going through it you will relate. If you have never been through this type of grief, keep this handy…it may help you one day.


I wish you would not be afraid to speak my loved one’s name. They lived and were important and I need to hear their name.


If I cry or get emotional if we talk about my loved one, I wish you knew that it isn’t because you have hurt me: the fact they have died has caused my tears. You have allowed me to cry and I thank you. Crying and emotional outbursts are healing.


I wish you wouldn’t let my loved one die again by removing from your home his pictures, artwork or other remembrances.


I will have emotional highs and lows, up and down. I wish you wouldn’t think that if I have a good day my grief is all over, or that if I have a bad day, I need psychiatric counseling.


I wish you knew that the death of a child is different from other losses and must be viewed separately. It is the ultimate tragedy and I wish you wouldn’t compare it to your loss of a parent, a spouse or a pet.


Being a bereaved person is not contagious, so I wish you wouldn’t stay away from me.


I wish you knew all the crazy grief reactions that I am having are in fact very normal. Depression, anger, frustration and hopelessness and the questioning of values and beliefs are to be expected following a death.


I wish you wouldn’t expect my grief to be over in six months. The first few years are going to be exceedingly traumatic for us. As with alcoholics I will never be ‘cured’ or a ‘formerly bereaved’, but forever a ‘recovering’ from my bereavement.


I wish you understood the physical reaction to grief. I may gain weight or lose weight, sleep all the time or not at all, develop a lot of illness and be accident prone, all of which are related to my grief.


Our loved one’s birthday, the anniversary of his death and the holidays are terrible times for us. I wish you could tell me that you are thinking about them on these days and if we get quiet and withdrawn, just know that we are thinking about them and don’t try to coerce us into being cheerful.


I wish you wouldn’t offer to take me out for a drink, or to a party. This is just a temporary crutch and the only way I can get through this grief is to experience it. I have to hurt before I can heal.

I wish you understood that grief changes people. I am not the same person I was before my loved one died and I never will be that person again. If you keep waiting for me to get back to ‘my old self’, you will stay frustrated. I am a new creature with new thoughts, dreams, aspirations, values and beliefs. Please try to get to know the new me: maybe you will still like me.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Grief is Ugly

The first time I saw my son, I looked into his eyes.  It changed my life FOREVER.  It changed the way I wanted to live for the rest of my life.





 
 


 




 
 
Grief is a deep longing for the ordinary.  It's the absence of the ordinary things that bring me to my knees.  All we have left are pictures and memories.  We can never get back what we've lost.
 
Oh Lord, I wish I would wake up from this nightmare.  I am weak, Lord, but You are strong. 
 

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Teacher Humor...


Teacher Humor

Are you sick of highly-paid teachers?

by sloucher Feb 21, 2011 posted on Facebook (an oldie but goodie) J

Teachers' hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work nine or ten months a year! It's time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they do -- babysit!

We can get that for less than minimum wage.

That's right. Let's give them $3.00 an hour and only the hours they worked; not any of that silly planning time, or any time they spend before or after school. That would be $19.50 a day (7:45 to 3:00 PM with 45 min. off for lunch and planning -- that equals 6-1/2 hours).

So each parent should pay $19.50 a day for these teachers to baby-sit their child. Now how many students do they teach in a day...maybe 30? So that's $19.50 x 30 = $585 a day.

However, remember they only work 180 days a year!!! I am not going to pay them for any vacations.

LET'S SEE....

That's $585 X 180= $105,300 per year. (Hold on! My calculator needs new batteries).

What about those special education teachers and the ones with Master's degrees? Well, we could pay them minimum wage ($7.75), and just to be fair, round it off to $8.00 an hour. That would be $8 X 6-1/2 hours X 30 children X 180 days = $280,800 per year.

Wait a minute -- there's something wrong here! There sure is.

The average teacher's salary (nationwide) is $50,000.

$50,000/180 days = $277.77 per day / 30 students = $9.25 / 6.5 hours = $1.42 per hour per student -- a very inexpensive baby-sitter and they even EDUCATE your kids!)

WHAT A DEAL!!!