Please mail to:
The Ronan Thompson Foundation
P.O. Box 44935
Phoenix, Arizona
85064-4935
You ROCK! Thank you!!!
The thoughts and opinions contained within this blog are those of Maya Thompson, as an individual. The blog does not represent the opinions of The Ronan Thompson Foundation.
Phoebe is on the left in this picture. Is her hair to die for or what? Big thank you to my little Rachel for making her day yesterday. Love you, Rach. You are the sweetest soul. Thank you all who have left such sweet comments on Phoebe’s page. Truly made my day.
Next up for Phoebe is a bone marrow transplant. Please keep her in your thoughts.
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/phoebe26
Posted by rockstarronan on March 16, 2013
http://rockstarronan.com/2013/03/16/that-hair-that-hair-that-hair/
Ronan. 22 months seems impossible. 22 months seems like a joke. 22 months does not seem real. We all miss you so much.
Today, is also Macy’s birthday. I know you would not want me to be sad on this day. I know if you were here, we would have woken Macy up by calling her on the phone and singing, “Happy Birthday,” to her. I will have your brothers do this. I’ll think of you, while they are doing so. I know how much you love your Macy. How much we all love her. She misses you so much.
I love you, Ronan. Happy Birthday, Macy. You are my other soul mate in life. The sister I never had. Thank you for always making us smile and laugh, even on the hardest days. I always say you are one of the most special gifts that Ronan left us.
We love you so much.
xoxo
Posted by rockstarronan on March 9, 2013
http://rockstarronan.com/2013/03/09/today-is-22-months-since-you-left-this-world/
Ronan. It’s the middle of the night and I can hear the rain. It’s pouring down outside. I just went to check on your brothers and in doing so, I have to walk by your empty room. I peaked inside. Nobody was there. That reality never gets any easier for me. I think I ended up losing my shit yesterday. It was really triggered a couple of days ago when I came home in the middle of the day from somewhere and I walked into our quiet house. I had been working at our kitchen table and I had left a bunch of packages on top of it, right where you would normally be sitting. As I turned the corner to our kitchen, I thought there was somebody sitting in your spot. I thought it was you. I imagined it was and how I would react. I imagined scooping you up, kissing you all over, crying tears of joy, and saying over and over that I always knew you were really coming back. This image has haunted me for days now. I was out all day yesterday, being productive and came home after a long day of trying to be a part of this world. That’s when I lost my shit and could do nothing but pace our house, crawl in my bed, and cry for hours on end. Your daddy came home to see me in bed. I had gotten a text from my mom friend, Sarah, asking if I was going to support group tonight at Dr. Jo’s. I told her no, that sitting around listening to everyone talk about their dead kids, was not a good place for me. Especially as of now, due to the life that is growing inside of me. Support group is hard anyway but it’s even harder to go being pregnant. Sarah said she selfishly wished I was coming as she was wanting to see me. I wanted to see her as well and her partner, Rae Ann. Noah’s mom’s. I sent Jo a little text to ask if she was leading group. She said she was and she could see me before hand as well. I threw on some appropriate clothes (pants included) and hardly said 2 words to your daddy as I headed out the door with my tear-stained cheeks and blood-shot eyes. Our house was screaming at me and I could no longer take it.
I got to Jo’s a sobbing mess and told her what was going on. She sat, asked me some questions, gently reminded me of all the stress/crap/petty fucking stupid fucking shit/insane pretend problems that normal people have that I don’t understand anymore that I’ve been trying to deal with and understand/the fact that I’m about to have a baby/ and how your two years is approaching. No wonder I am freaking the fuck out. She knows these next few months are going to be hard. May is right around the corner, you know. I just sat and cried and talked when I could. Before I knew it, it was time for group to start. I had decided to stay mostly because I just wanted to be with Noah’s mom’s. It was a pretty full group. It went a little something like this. Stillbirth, me-cancer, stillbirth, stillbirth, stillbirth, 8-month old unknown cause of death, 3-year-old just stopped breathing, 8th month old-can’t remember, still birth, still birth, murdered child, 8 month old again. Of course you know why I think Poppy is going to be born dead. Because I live in the world of childhood cancer and still births. I talked a little but was mostly too upset to even tell your story. Support group never gets easier. The death of your child, never gets easier. It’s not something we will ever overcome. It’s not like AA, where we can recover from our disease, start over, and live a clean, healthy life. Our disease never goes away. I think about this a lot, especially when I am in a group setting like tonight. How the world is so accepting of people who are trying to recover from alcohol or drug abuse. How there is so much love and support out there for them over something that is a choice for most people. I understand that being an alcoholic or abusing drugs is an ugly, powerful disease in life, but most people, not all, make the choice to do these things. None of us parents, made the choice for our kids to get sick and die, yet there is so little love and support out there for us. Society doesn’t want to acknowledge us, Betty Ford doesn’t fit for us, the government doesn’t care about us. So where do we go and what are we left to do, to get through this?
In my dream of all dreams, after I get this care center built, I want to help Jo with one of her little dreams. That is creating a safe place, almost like a rehab for these parents to come to that have lost a child. A safe place for parents to come, with the proper counselors and proper kind of compassionate care that they so need. A place where bereaved parents can try to process their grief before being shoved out into the cruel, harsh, happy go fucking lucky world again where everyone has a living child, except for them. A Betty Ford for bereaved parents in a way. I would have went to a place like that. I think it would have helped me a lot in the beginning. Oh, people wanted to send me away alright. But it was only to a mental ward where that shadow would have haunted me for the rest of my life because I’m sure I would have been given a permanent diagnoses of bullshit that would have followed me around forever. This is a path of life that we as parents, will never get off of. There is no changing our course. There is no bringing our children back. We are stuck here, forever. It’s like the ultimate prison where we as parents have done nothing wrong except for love our kids with everything we have, yet we are serving a life sentence for a crime we didn’t commit. (well, unless you are someone like Casey Fucking Anthony, then you should rot in hell a.k.a. a real jail cell for the rest of your life)
There is no place for parents to go so we are all forced back out into a world that does not exist for us and we are expected to be o.k. Hey, our kid or kids just died but we’ll get over it, right? Life just goes on and we are expected to be strong because being strong is the only choice we have. It’s wrong. We all need a break from being this strong once in a while. Being this strong can be torture at times. Bereaved parents need a safe place to go where their children are remembered and they can take a break from being strong for a while. As much as I think support group is great, a tangible place where parents could go to for longer period of time than an hour a month, would be so much freaking better. Add it to my list of big dreams. It seems so obvious to me and I don’t understand why it doesn’t already exist. I guess it’s because Dr. Jo hasn’t done it yet and she is the only one fit for this job. Someday, I promise this is going to be a reality and I will do whatever I can to help her with this.
I have to run today, Ro baby. I have an interview in a few minutes. I miss you. I love you. I hope you are safe. Thanks for the rain last night.
xoxo
Posted by rockstarronan on March 8, 2013
http://rockstarronan.com/2013/03/08/rain-rain-dont-go-away-and-please-dont-let-poppy-be-born-dead/
Ronan. Another week done. Another week closer to your baby sisters arrival. A lot happened this week for nothing happening at all. I’ve spent most of the week doing I don’t even know what. Taking care of your brothers has kept me pretty busy. I feel like I’ve poured everything I have into them just so they know how very loved they are. There is a new baby coming. I am trying to be fully aware of everything they may be feeling with this. How does a 9-year-old process the death of their little brother and soon after that, the birth of their little sister? I have no freaking idea. So all I am doing is talking with them as openly as I can while pouring every single ounce of love and affection I have to give, into them. Liam finally got his new glasses and has been wearing them around the house and when he is out and about with us. He looks so handsome in them. He won’t wear them to school yet and I’m not pushing that on him. I’m just trying to let him get used to them first. I wish you were here to see him in them and how proud he looked when he put them on and looked in the mirror at himself. The first time he put them on in the car he goes, “Wow! I can see perfectly!” It made me laugh and broke my heart all at the same time. My sweet gentle giant. He slept with your daddy last night and I curled up in Quinn’s bed with him. Quinn must have told me 10 times how much he loves me. I snuggled up with him as we fell asleep. I always picture how it would be if you were here. I know you wouldn’t be sleeping in your bed but you would be snuggling up with your brothers instead. You loved being with them so much.
I saw Dr. Jo today for some therapy which included the chocolate cake she had waiting for me when I arrived. BEST.THERAPIST.EVER. We hashed out the weeks events. We talked about this Poppy girl and her birth. I told her I didn’t think I could make a specific birth plan for her because as with everything I do, winging it seems to be the best and works for me. I know she will be there and that is good enough for me. We have talked about having your Urn in the room with me. My only hesitation with that is that somebody might break your urn and ashes will go flying everywhere. But I think having your urn in the room with me as something to focus on might be good for me. We will see. I feel like I have been crying a lot. Crying when I’ve been hiking. Crying in bed. Crying when I’m driving. Crying over every song that comes on the freaking radio. My tears seem endless lately. It is just because I miss you so much. I just miss my best friend. I just miss my spicy monkey. I just want you back in the worst way possible. Dr. Jo asked me today when I thought I would be ready to forgive myself. I told her I didn’t know. That maybe Poppy would tell me when it is time in a secret way and only I will know what it means. Maybe you will let her know when it is o.k. for me to forgive myself for all the things I hate myself for that I know are truly not my fault. I think your sister is going to bring so much light into our world that I so very badly need. I think she will be able to hold my hand through this darkness in a way that nobody else can. I cannot believe she is almost here. I am so glad because I truly do not think I can wait much longer for her. I know I will be able to breathe much easier once she arrives. Both literally and figuratively.
It’s kind of been breakdown city over here this past week. It’s been one of those weeks where I feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders. I walk around every single second of every single day knowing that you, the love of my life, died. I never for a second forget that. I constantly feel like I am just here, doing my best, but blindly stumbling through this life without you. I never forget that I don’t have your hand to hold, your little lips to kiss, your messes to clean up, your hair to wash, you to dress or tuck in at night. Some days, I don’t know how I live without being able to do all of those things with you or for you. What I wouldn’t give to be cleaning up your messes or wiping up your puke from the flu. Even when you were here, doing those things, it was never an annoyance to me. I never got mad or upset or complained about the lack of sleep or things I was “missing out” on because I was just so thankful to have you. Even before you were sick, I knew what a gift you were. I don’t understand how you are now sitting on top of my dresser in a fucking urn. I still don’t understand how this all happened. I promise I am doing my best, Ronan but it feels so hard at times. I still know you miss me as much as I miss you. I still know we were never meant to be apart. I will forever think that this is so wrong and so beyond fucked up.
Today, Dr. Jo asked me if Inferno Fuckwad Bob was still around. Meaning my nickname for my grief. I told her yes, but I didn’t hate him as much as I used to. She told me she knew that would happen as it’s part of this shift. How her grief has become one of her best friends. I nodded my head and told her that made sense as our grief is never going anywhere. She goes “That’s right. So we may as well invite him in for a cup of tea.” I understand now. I can’t spend my whole life angry and fighting with my grief. I live with my grief 24 hours a day, so I’d better learn how to make the best of it. Your daddy went to the Suns game tonight. Your brothers are at a birthday party. If you were here, we’d be off doing something fun. Instead I sit in our house and cry for you, alone, the way I like it. Sometimes I have to take a break from the outside world. It’s still hard for me to be among the normal, happy people of the world. I’d rather sit here with my best friend, Inferno Fuckwad Bob instead. At least I don’t have to wear pants for our date.
I miss you. I love you. I hope you are safe. Sweet dreams, baby doll.
xoxo
Posted by rockstarronan on March 1, 2013
http://rockstarronan.com/2013/03/01/a-date-where-no-pants-are-required/
I had big plans today. HUGE plans. I had decided on them last night while I was in my bed, crying. I thought to myself, “Tomorrow I’m going to do nothing but stay in bed all day long.” I got up this morning, hopped in the shower and just as I was getting dressed for my “big day,” I got a text message from Stacy. It simply said, “Can you meet for breakfast?” I didn’t even hesitate as I texted her back, “Yes,” and plans were made. A year ago, I would have told Stacy in no way shape or form, could I possibly meet her for breakfast. That was the state of mind I was in last year. Things are different now.
I met up with Stacy and as soon as she sat down she said, “Fernanda is meeting us, too.” “Great!” I said. Even though she just had surgery, she still was popping in for our little breakfast which I was surprised by, but shouldn’t have been since her nickname should be freaking Superwoman. I sat and caught up with my friends and our breakfast ended up turning into a two-hour meal/discussion/sob fest. I listened as Stacy and Fernanda talked to me about some things they know I am struggling with. Mostly about the last week or so of your life. They told me they know how I am regretting not having you die in our home and I listened as they both explained to me why it was that we were encouraged to take you to the Ryan House. I hadn’t really ever heard this from them before. They talked about how scared they were that you were going to die this awful, painful death by basically drowning on your own blood. How for many kids that die of Neuroblastoma, this is what happens. It is usually a very painful and awful death. They talked about how they didn’t want your blood, all over our house. I listened to them, understood and now I feel like I can let this little piece of my guilt go. I do not blame anybody for pushing us to take you there. I know my friends only had our best intentions at heart as they always do. We all sat and cried talking about this. I said something about I only have the guilt because you begged me to go home and I feel like I didn’t answer your one little dying wish. Nobody knew you were going to die so peacefully the way you did. Nobody knew you were just going to fall asleep. I looked up at the girls and one of them, I can’t remember who goes, “But Maya, don’t you think Ronan’s home was wherever you were?” I nodded my head in response. We talked about some more things as we continued to sit and cry at the table.
I told them about the chapter for this book that I am supposed to be working on. I told them about what it is I was thinking about writing about. I watched as the color drained from Stacy’s face. “You can’t write about that right now. You are going to give birth soon. You cannot write about that.” Fernanda’s eyes welled up with tears. “You need to listen to your gut, Maya, but do you really want to write about that, now?” I told them I was having a hard time working up the courage writing about this part of my life, but it was the only thing my mind kept going back to. I listened to them both and their advice. I left our breakfast still unsure about taking on this chapter but I could not think of anything else that I could connect with to write about. I ran a couple of errands after breakfast and cried almost the entire time in the car. I came home and made a decision to head up our mountain to go hiking today. I can’t take another day of not doing a thing, exercise wise. I put on my clothes, threw on your little backpack and off I went.
I didn’t wear my headphones or blast my music while I hiked. I listened to my head instead. I listened to you. I took it slow up the mountain to keep your Poppy sister safe. I felt my head become less foggy. It was as I was coming down the mountain that I decided what I am writing my chapter about. It suddenly came to me so clearly just the way things always do when I am outside, exercising, and listening to myself and you. It felt so good to be free and clear with my thoughts flowing non-stop. I’ve said this from day one; nothing good will ever come from me hiding in my bed. I cannot change the world this way and for sad as I am and for as much as I want to hide, I can’t. Because if I hide then I die and I really don’t want to die anymore.
I said something to your Sparkly yesterday that has been bugging me to pieces. I told him I was working on being less sad. Saying that left a bad taste in my mouth and I have been mad at myself ever since. I texted him today as I was going up the mountain and told him that I had decided that me saying I was trying to be less sad, was bullshit. That my sadness is like a chronic illness. It’s something I’ll always have and it will always be a part of me. I have to accept it, stop trying to change it, and learn to live with it. I will never be able to get rid of my sadness but I can learn to manage it. Managing it for me will come in many different forms and I am slowly figuring out the “medication” I need to treat my sadness. No, not real medication. My medication. The things that work for me and help me through this life. Things like exercising, nature, writing, helping others, surrounding myself with the kind of people who build me up, not beat me down, and trying to live a life you would be proud of. That’s my prescription. It may not be prescribed by a real doctor, it may not work for everybody, but it works for me and that’s what I’m sticking to.
I’m tired from today and the hiking wore me out, but it made me feel good as well. I’ve missed our little mountain so much. I see Dr. Schwartz tomorrow so she can check up on this baby sister of yours. Please keep her safe and sound for me, Ronan. I miss you. I love you. I hope you are safe. Sweet dreams my spicy little monkey.
xoxo
Posted by rockstarronan on February 26, 2013
http://rockstarronan.com/2013/02/26/i-have-a-chronic-illness-and-its-called-sadness/
Posted by rockstarronan on February 26, 2013
http://rockstarronan.com/2013/02/26/this-explains-why-i-will-never-support-the-american-cancer-society-they-do-nothing-for-our-kids-except-use-them-making-money-off-of-our-kids-for-your-huge-salaries-not-cool/
Do you all know of any grant applications that we need to know about? Our board is currently in the process looking for them to help us build our center and continue to help children in clinical trials.. If you do, I’m kindly asking you to forward anything at all to one of our board members, Melissa DiFilippo. Melissa handles all grant funding and nominations for the foundation and would appreciate any leads.
Thank you so much!
Posted by rockstarronan on February 25, 2013
http://rockstarronan.com/2013/02/25/grants-grants-and-more-grants/
Ronan. I have no idea what I did this week. Not only do I have grief brain, I have pregnancy brain to go with it as well. It’s amazing that I can even drive a freaking car. I feel foggy, heavy, sad, tired… this is NOT depression, P.S.
It’s hormones, grief, and pregnancy. And no… I do not need medication. Nor will I ever need medication for my sadness which is just that. Sadness from losing you. My sadness will never go away and I am o.k. with that. It will forever be a part of who I am. I will deal with my sadness in ways that work for me and no pill will be required. I have been daydreaming a lot. About popping this Poppy out and being able to be free again. Free to go running. Free to go hiking. Free to blow off some of this crap that I have been holding in due to not being able to exercise the way I want to or need to. It’s the only thing that makes my head less foggy. I have been missing my running and hiking so very much. That is the time I feel closest to you. When I am connecting with nature and myself. It’s a good thing that this pregnancy is coming to an end because I am about to burst not having the outlet I am so desperately craving.
Most of my week was spent playing catch up with some things and taking care of your brothers while trying to rest up a bit. Your daddy has been the best helper, as always. I am slowly getting ready for your Poppy sister. It is still one day at a time with all of this as I am being very careful about trying to only buy the things we will need right away. I’ve been making Fernanda so nervous about everything that she just went ahead and ordered Poppy’s crib for me, and didn’t tell me until after! Leave it to her to just take things into her own hands. I couldn’t possibly love her more. I sat with Stacy yesterday and went over a list of things I do not have, but will need. Things such as diapers, burp cloths, bottles, a boppy. I ran to the mall today to exchange something and talked myself into going to Pottery Barn Kids to look at some bedding. Your baby sister needs some sheets. As soon as I got in there I was so overwhelmed. I snuck back to take a peek at what they had. I am so indecisive that I almost had a panic attack. I was walking past the counter and the sales lady goes, “Do you need help?” I just politely smiled and told her no. She then goes, “Have you registered?” I just laughed and said, “No, I have not.” I knew I was not getting off that easy and sure enough she goes, “You look like you’re about to pop and you have not registered?!” It was obvious that not only was not registering a sin, but that I had 3 heads as well. I just smiled and walked off. I was not about to explain our situation and how I had tried to register for baby things, but could not even get past the first few things that I was going to register for. I found myself back looking at the boy stuff and all the new Star Wars stuff they have gotten in. I was so sad as I ran my hands across the new Star Wars sheet set and thought how I would have totally bought those sheets for you. All I wanted to do was crawl into the Pottery Barn bed, pull the covers over my head and never come out again. I practically ran out of the store after that. Fuck that place.
I came home and finished cooking up the best meal ever for your daddy and brothers. My short ribs and mashed potatoes. It felt nice to do something nice for all of them. They have been taking such good care of me. Your brothers are the best little helpers around. I knew I wasn’t going to be home for dinner so I wanted to make sure they didn’t have to eat out, again. They were so grateful and thankful for the home cooked meal. I skipped out shortly after they left for basketball practice to go see Dr. Jo.
I spent a couple of hours with her. I’ve been trying to spend more time with her, talking about everything now that I have slowed down a bit and have more time. It feels good. As we were sitting there tonight, Poppy kept thumping me in the same spot over and over again. I said to Jo, “Feel this. What is she doing?!” Jo came over and felt my stomach. After a minute she goes, “She has the hiccups!” OMG. Cutest thing ever. I don’t remember ever feeling you boys have the hiccups in my tummy. The thought of this little baby girl, hiccupping in my stomach, pretty much made my night. I spent the rest of my time with Dr. Jo going over a lot of things and now I am so beat I think I have no choice but to end this and pass out now. I cannot possibly form another thought. Our sessions are always a lot of work and always exhaust me. Your brothers are in my room with me and I am going to snuggle up to them. We all miss you so much.
I love you, Ro. I miss you so much. I hope you are safe. Sweet dreams, little man.
xoxo
Posted by rockstarronan on February 22, 2013
http://rockstarronan.com/2013/02/22/i-am-in-love-with-your-sister-and-her-hicupps/
We are beyond EXCITED to announce that our P.F. Chang’s Rock-n-Roll Marathon and Half “Run Like A Rockstar” Team raised OVER $94,000!!!! Can you believe it? $94,000!!!
A special thanks to ALL involved! We are already gearing up for next year!!
xoxo
Posted by rockstarronan on February 21, 2013
http://rockstarronan.com/2013/02/21/wow-this-is-all-because-of-you-thank-you-so-much-for-our-first-marathon-this-is-amazing/
Ronan. It’s official. For as much as I don’t want to slow down, I have to slow down. My body is screaming at me with everything it has to just stop. I have never been more bloody exhausted in my life. Your sister is so heavy that even just walking around trying to do normal things leaves me breathless and feeling like I want to fall over. Not cool. This is not how I roll. I am glad I crammed in every last thing I could before this hit me such as my little New York trip, foundation things, appointment things, etc… There is no way I could have gone to New York now. I can hardly get out of bed to tackle our laundry situation over here or keep up with the cooking/taking care of your brothers. All my body wants to do is rest/sleep. Otherwise known as my personal hell.
I spent the weekend taking it easy. I’ve had a bad cold to go along with this pregnancy that has wiped me out even more. I know this is just another way my body is telling me enough is enough. Your Papa Jim has been in town since Friday. He’s been sleeping in your room which you know always brings me comfort. Just the thought of knowing somebody is in your little room, brings me a sense of peace. I love it even more when I catch your brothers playing in there, with all of your Star Wars toys. They are still young enough to enjoy them every once in a while. I spent all day Saturday at my happy place, otherwise known as your brothers basketball games. They had games starting at 8 a.m. back to back to back. I felt like crap but there was no way I was going to miss their games. One of my favorite things in life now is watching those two play basketball. You would be so proud of them and how well they are doing, Ronan. Your two brothers constantly leave me amazed. They are such good sweet souls, even after all of this. I am so lucky to have them.
One of the things I did with Dr. Jo on Friday was go over our timeline that we sat together and wrote out about a year ago. It started from your diagnoses and ended the morning you died. You know I don’t have much of a memory of anything and one of the things I really struggle with is regret. She asked me to change anything I wanted to in regards to things I would have done differently with you and your treatment. Of course I changed things. A lot of things. I would actually like to change almost everything because what if by changing one little thing, your outcome would have been different? We will never know this. Your daddy still swears to me that your disease was so aggressive that it wouldn’t have mattered. It matters to me and I don’t know that I will ever be able to forgive myself, Ronan. I don’t care if at the end of the day, you would have died no matter what we did. I will forever hold on to you were my child and I should have been able to protect you and save you from anything and everything. Even stupid fucking cancer.
The first thing I told Dr. Jo I would change was I wouldn’t have had you die at all. Obviously. If only it were that easy, right? We then moved on and went over the doctors, hospitals, treatments and ended all things at the Ryan House. I sat there and sobbed while talking about this and told her I wish I would have never taken you there. Looking back now, I understand it was what we needed to do, to get your pain under control because feeding you morphine every hour on the hour was just not cutting it. But that little voice in my head will always go to the very painful place of at the end of the day, after everything you went through, you just wanted to be at home, in your house and I should have listened to you and not everyone else. It’s the least I could have done as your mama. I know a big part of not having you die at home was to protect Liam and Quinn, but I really don’t think having you here, would have hurt them as much as we thought it would have. They were with us when you died, it just happened to be at some strange place that it all happened. They will always have that memory of you there and I don’t think having you away, out of our house, will make that memory any better for them. How could anything possibly make the memory of their little brother, the most precious thing on earth to them dying, any better? I told Dr. Jo how I vaguely remember hospice meeting us at the airport after we had returned back from Philadelphia when we were told there was nothing else that could be done for you. How I had a stranger riding in our car with us and I remember being so angry because I felt like I had no control over anything and now there was a stranger riding in my car with us whom I had never even seen let alone talked to in my life. I remember hospice coming to our house and I told your daddy to get them out. End of story. I didn’t care who they were or why they were here, all I knew was that nobody really explained anything to me at all but I was just expected to understand everything that was happening. I told Dr. Jo I wish it had been her with me at this time. Because I know Dr. Jo. I know she knows better than anyone how to handle this very delicate situation. She would have done things in such a way that I would have been open to her. She would have had the decency to gently first of all, ASK me if it would be alright for her to be with us, to help us with anything that we might need or not understand. She would have ASKED to meet you and not just pretended like you were a baby who was already dead. She would have cried with me and understood my pain in only a way that a mother whom has also lost a child, can do so. Her expertise on all of this would not just come from a book or a class she took. It comes from so much more than that and I know I would have been able to feel all of that. I wished it would have been her, sitting with me, helping me, explaining to me everything that was happening/ going to happen. I wish it would have been her that would have told me I could have spent as much time with you as I wanted to after you died. That there was no rush to have your little body placed in a bag and wheeled away, never to be seen again. I wish it would have been her to have sat and wept with me, held me and helped me find my way back out into this bright, bright world in her oh so gentle way. It certainly would not have been her saying, “See you later, have a great summer,” never to really be checked on again. I wish I would have found Dr. Jo before you died. It did not happen this way, Ronan and because of this, I know one thing for sure. Dr. Jo could not be with me for your death but she will be with me for the birth of your baby sister. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. I’ve talked to your daddy about it. Our conversation was brief and simple. I was laying in bed, crying I think.
Me: “Woody. I need to ask you something.”
Him: “What?”
Me: “I want Jo in the room with us when Poppy is born.”
Him: “Why? You are always so calm and you always do great.”
Me: (trying not to get frustrated because I don’t think your daddy understands the depth of this for me, having another child after having a dead child and how mentally hard this is) “I have always done great when I didn’t have a dead child. This is completely different now.”
And then I just said it, plain as can be.
“Because I’m scared.”
Him: “O.k. whatever you want.”
Me: “Thank you.”
I called Dr. Jo today. I asked her. She started crying on the phone. She said she would be honored. I told her thank you. That I don’t know if I can do this without her. She went on and on about how if I change my mind at any point, she will totally understand. I said I knew that. As of now, this is my plan. Did I also mention that Dr. Jo is a doula? Kick ass, Dr. Jo. I see this as a win/win. Not only is she here to help me with death, but also with life. She has been my lifeline through all of this, Ronan. I only wish there were 500 more of her to go around to help all the parents out there, dealing with the loss of a child. Nobody gets this the way she does. She has such a gift that is beyond this world.
It takes a lot for me to feel scared in this world anymore. I am scared for the birth of your sister. The range of emotions I am feeling come with such an overwhelming feeling of sadness and happiness and I know I need her to help me through this. I know when I need to ask for help and I need help with this from both you and her. I know with the two of you things will be a little less scary. In my heart of hearts, I know you are going to make sure Poppy gets here safe and sound. I will always trust in you and the way you are guiding me. I think you want Dr. Jo in the room with me just as much as I do. She should have known you, but since she didn’t she will know about you through the eyes of your brothers, the tears in my eyes, and the birth of your baby sister. Such a beautiful gift she is going to be, Ronan. Thank you for her.
I miss you. I love you. I hope you are safe. Sweet dreams, little man.
xoxo
Posted by rockstarronan on February 18, 2013
http://rockstarronan.com/2013/02/18/why-because-im-scared/
