Tag: ro

More Gold Party Details!

I had a board meeting last night at The W. I am so excited for this party! It’s going to be Romazing! I’ve had so many people ask about the details for tables, which are going fast. As of now, you can purchase a table starting at $700 dollars. This includes: 10 tickets to the party, a bottle of Magnum Champagne and a bottle of Belvedere Vodka.

If you would like to purchase a table, please use the contact info below. But hurry! They are going fast!!!

RSVP
For VIP table reservations contact VIP@triyar.com or 602-405-0099

Again, here is the link to buy regular tickets. Those too, are going really fast. Thank you so much to everyone who has been buying them!!!

http://www.theronanthompsonfoundation.com/events/goldparty

Thank you to my sisters/family/board members who have worked so hard on this. I am so lucky to have you all in my life. This event is going to be so special and fun!

See you all there!

xoxo

Ronan. I’ve been writing. Just not posting. I know you know why. I’m sorry. Today, I’m doing the candy cart for you at PCH. I think it’s going to take a lot to get me through today. I think I could use you around, to help me. I’ll be seeing lots of little bald heads, but yours will always be my favorite. I love you baby boy. I miss you so much. I promise to post what I’ve been writing, soon. I just can’t right now. I love you. I hope you are safe.

xoxo

 

 

Stuck on the Top of a Mountain in the Middle of a Haboob. A Haboob. Google it. It’s real.

Ronan. I made it through today. But tomorrow has to come now, too. The 9th. 16 months. Oh, and don’t forget August 13th, your diagnoses day. It’s always something around here. What choice do I have but to keep rolling with the punches? I don’t. This fucking bullshit grief/bereaved parent/life thing is such fucking bullshit. It’s a constant struggle to feel like I can breathe on most days. How did I get through today? With your help of course. It’s always you that helps me through the most.

I got through today by trying to be kind to myself. I got through today by allowing myself to feel, whatever it is that I needed to feel. I got though today by a little help from my friends and strangers. I got through today by looking at the smiles on your brothers faces. I got though today with the little sign that you sent me to let me know that you are still with me. It was a long fucking day though. I am beat.

Who gets off a red-eye only to land straight on my door step with flowers, donuts, a card, and some silly school things for your brothers? Only our crazy, Heather Freaking Firecracker. Our spicy little friend whose heart is bigger then her body. Not like that is saying much, because she is so itty bitty. She made my morning a little brighter which helped contain my tears for the drop off that I had to do. I dropped off your brothers. I didn’t let myself sit there and sob. I peeled out of that school like my hair was on fire. Not really. I may break a lot of rules, but speeding in a school zone is not one of them. I took a deep breath and calmly left school. I ran some errands. I had a mini breakdown in a parking lot, in my car. I looked at my phone. Your Sparkly: I hope you are o.k. Me: Not o.k. I’m sorry. I can’t believe he is not here. I think I let him down. Him: Please don’t do this. You are the best mom. You did NOT let him down. Me: insert sobbing here: It wasn’t enough. How could it not have been enough? You are making me cry. Stop making me cry. He knows it wasn’t him, who was making me cry. It never is. I pulled it together. I drove through a drive through car wash, for you. Because I used to just take you to them, when our car wasn’t even dirty because you loved them so much. I met a stranger for coffee. We have a mutual friend. She asked if I could meet this week. I jumped at the chance to meet her today. She knew what today was. I told her that it would give me something to look forward to; our little meeting of strangers. I left there feeling like she could be my friend.

I went to the freaking grocery store. I hate the grocery store. I made myself get things done for your brothers. I told myself I was going to cook dinner tonight. I picked your brothers up from school. “Hi boys! How was your day? Tell me everything!” I asked 50 questions. They were so happy. They had such a good first day. I tried my best to push down my sadness. I am so glad they had such a wonderful day. I let this fill me with the little happiness that I am capable of feeling now. It’s enough. I get them home, make snacks, we start homework. I engage and help them. A treat is left at our front doorstep by one of our friends/neighbors. This melts my broken heart. It makes your brothers smile. They gobble up the deliciousness. Your daddy gets home. We cook dinner, together. Kind of. Not really. I let him cook. I shredded the lettuce. Does that count? I don’t sit down to eat. I don’t eat again today. It’s o.k. I’m not hungry. I get a text from our lovie, Kassie. “Do you want to hike? I need to for my sanity.” “Absolutely,” I say. “I’ll meet you on our mountain, at 7.” Your daddy takes the boys to The Village.

I meet up with Kass. The girl who is literally looks like sunshine, but with a bit of a dark cloud above her. I call that dark cloud, wisdom and pain. Wisdom and pain that gives her young life, so much more meaning than others. I met her through this blog. The crazy thing is, after we started up our little friendship, we both found out that you shared a room at PCH with her brother who was going through cancer treatment. He was older. I never met Kassie. I am so glad I know her now. She likes to inferno hike with me. She even goes to the inferno without me. We sat at the top for a long time. We talk about everything. We talked a lot about you. A man came up to the top. We struck up a conversation with him. It was odd. Everyone has a story. He told us he liked to hike to the top of the mountain and then say 5 things that he was grateful for. He asked if we wanted to do it out loud with him. Sure. O.k. Why not. He said his list. I went next. Deep breath. I tried to clear my head. I struggled with what to say. I need to work on my gratitude list a little more I guess. I managed to come up with 5 things. I think they were this:

1) My husband. He walks on water.

2) My twins

3) The love between myself and my Ronan. He is the reason I continue to go on. He is the reason for everything I do.

4) The kindness of strangers

5) My family and friends.

It took everything for me to not scream from the top of my lungs, ” I AM NOT GRATEFUL FOR ANYTHING BECAUSE CANCER KILLED THE LOVE OF MY LIFE! I WAS GRATEFUL FOR EVERYTHING IN MY LIFE, ALWAYS, BEFORE ALL OF THIS! I DIDN’T NEED THIS LESSON!THIS LESSON IS FUCKING BULLSHIT!”

If this would have been a year ago, I would have screamed all of those things and then jumped off the side of the cliff. See, I am growing! Gold star for me! That would have been my anger taking over today. I controlled it. I will work on my grateful list a little more, for you.

Kassie’s list was great. She is a good girl who is grateful for everything and just wants to help make this world a better place. I was grateful for her list.

The man left after he decided that we might be insane, due to our snarkiness about how kids dying from cancer, is not the way to learn a life lesson. No thanks, buddy. We would rather have learned it another way. But thanks for playing with us. I’m sorry your puppy died. Bye-Bye. He left. We watched. The lightning danced around us. “Where is the moon”? Kassie asked. “That’s weird. It’s not out tonight. Why is it so light out? It’s 8:00.” I said. We couldn’t figure it out. The clouds started to roll in. “Look. Those clouds came out of nowhere. It’s not supposed to storm tonight.” I said. We watched some more. The wind started whipping around us. “Crap! Kassie said. “I think we are trapped in a Haboob!”  I just laughed. “We totally are! Ronan is so pissed he didn’t get to start kindergarten today!” We sat at the top of our RoChurch tonight for a good 45 minutes and let the storm whip around us. No rain. Just a lot of dust and wind. We laughed. I might have cried for a second. I waited for it to calm down, so we could get off of the mountain. After the wind had settled, we got up and headed down. It was so bright, without the moon, that we didn’t need a light. So strange. We made it down the mountain and that’s when it happened. Only you could do this, for me. The second my foot touched the exact spot of where I have one of my favorite pictures in the world of you, a rain drop kissed my lip. “Kass! Did you feel that? It’s raining! It’s raining and I have this picture or Ronan, right here, in this very spot.” We both stopped and waited. It took a minute for her to feel it. But then, big, huge tears fell from the sky. But only right where we were standing. “That is so Ronan,” I said. “He always does this for me, when I need it the most.” We extended out our arms and let the big, sloppy wet tears fall on our faces. I smiled. “He’s the best.” We stayed for a few minutes and enjoyed the rest of your little storm. A sign from you that I very much needed today. Thank you, baby doll.

I love you. I miss you. I hope you are safe. I will try to do something dangerous for our danger day tomorrow. Fuck you 16 months.

xoxo

Thank Ro(not God) for that Dental Floss tonight

Ro baby. I am going to try to write tonight; but I am tired. I will do my best because I miss you so very much and my mind is anything but still. Today started out o.k. Waking up knowing our reality, is never easy to do. I got up and started working on some things around the house. Organizing things. Very fun. I can tell things like this are going to become an obsession for me. Things that I can control, are very important to me now. Things were so out of control, for so very long, now it is as if I am becoming obsessed with the things I can control. Such as how much I exercise, how much I eat or don’t eat, the perfectly put away laundry….. I cannot wait to start project organization on my closet tomorrow. The once, carefree, chaotic life that we used to live, seems like a fairytale. It is no longer here. Oh, how I long for the chaos that you created. You used to leave my head spinning, but in such a good way. I could never keep up with you and your craziness. So, I just gave in and joined you instead. We were such a perfect match. You were the best little partner in crime. I miss you so much. I don’t like not having a partner in crime anymore. Trying to keep this up, without you, is so boring and dull. And just plain sad.

Ro baby. I didn’t finish that last night. I had to snuggle up with Quinn instead who was sobbing about how badly he misses you. I held him tight for a long time, in the bottom bunk of his bed. I didn’t know what to do; so I just held him and tried to comfort him. I kept telling him how sorry I was, how unfair all of this was, how much I loved him, how strong of a family we are…..but my words were of no comfort to him. I gave in and told him to let it all out, how it was good to cry about you. It ended up being too much, so I in turn, just gave in and cried with him. As soon as he noticed my tears, he sat up and said the words that he’s said to me a thousand times now….”You o.k. Mom?” I wiped my tears away and told him I would be o.k. if he was going to be o.k. He said that he would and we decided to climb up to the top of Liam’s bunk bed to sleep. Liam was snuggled in bed with your Daddy. I fell into another night of restless of sleep, with Quinn by my side.

The weekend is over. It was all pretty much a blur. We had friends over, ran errands, did things around the house, went Inferno Hiking a couple of times….. I had breakfast with my besties this morning. Me and my 3 dolls. Not many laughs, but more tears. It is o.k. though. I know there will come a time when we will laugh like we used to. It’s the friends that stick by your side, during the toughest of times; who you will be with until the end. I’m so lucky to have the girls’ that I do as they are truly the best of the best. I know I say this all of the time, but I wouldn’t be standing here, without them. My sisters for life.

I went to the grocery store tonight. Alone. I hate the grocery store so much. I needed to get things for the week. Once I stepped in the store, the panic took over. My head started spinning and I could not focus on a thing. I filled my cart with fruits, veggies, things to pack for your brothers lunches. I did not have a list, as I thought I could remember what I needed. I used to be so good at that. I knew there was something that I really needed to get at the store. The one thing that I could not forget. I had spent much of the day, reminding myself, over and over, what I needed to get. Once I was at the store, I could not remember what that one thing was; to save my life. I knew it was something to do with toiletries. I walked up and down the aisles, trying to remember what in the fuck it was that I needed. It wasn’t shampoo, soap, face wash, Q-tips…… I was about to burst into tears. Why is my brain not working anymore? This is so not fair. Why are you dead? You are dead and my memory is gone. I used to have a memory like an elephant. Almost photogenic. Just as the tears started to form, I turned down the toothpaste aisle. There it was, Ro! Dental Floss! I’ve never been so happy to see goddamn dental floss in my LIFE!

I made the mistake of going down the toy aisle. There it was. A Star Wars action figure that we never had. A new one. NONONONONONO. I picked it up. I started talking out loud, repeating, “Guy’s Helmet,” over and over just like you used to call them. I took a picture of it. I almost bought it. I had to set that toy down tonight and just walk away. I had to walk away from knowing that I couldn’t buy you that toy tonight and bring it home to you. You would have been so excited and I could almost feel you wrapping your arms around my neck and giving me one of your best kisses. I cannot believe that I cannot have that anymore.

Babydoll. I’ve got to say goodnight. Your daddy is sad and I just don’t know what to do with all of this. Everybody is sad. How can I fix everyone else around me when I am so badly shattered that the simple act of connecting, being attentive, loving, and compassionate to those closest to me, often leaves me locked in a bathroom, lights off, puking my guts out.

Thanks, Fuckwad Cancer for taking my baby away from all of us. I HATE YOU.

G’nite Ro. My babydoll. My “not spicy,” monkey, my blue-eyed boy. I love you to the moon and back.

And P.S. WTF is this thing? It could be the most genius invention, EVER. Way better than the snuggie. Can somebody get me one of these? I would like to put it on and wear it for the rest of my LIFE. Stupid life. But this so made me crack up.

Breaking rules, changing Holidays

Ronan. Hi baby. Another day done. Looking back on todays events, although nothing major happened, it seems like forever ago. If I were to write a handbook on losing a child, because there seems to nothing out there about this subject, one of the things I would write about is how slowly time passes by. How the hours just drag on, and so do the days, months and I am assuming years as well. By the time I die, I’ll bet I’ll feel like I’ve lived hundreds of lives. As of now, I don’t really feel like this is a good thing. I’m just tired. And sad. I think I’m also starting to realize that I don’t think I will truly be happy again. I don’t think I will ever know pure bliss again like I knew before all of this cancer shit. Before the loss of you. My life, at best, will be filled with moments of happiness here and there, but the happy that once existed before all of this will never be again. Maybe this will change as time goes on, but I just don’t see how that is possible.

What did I do today?? No clue. Woke up. Didn’t want to. Texted Liz to see if she wanted to walk down to the Del to grab a coffee. She did. Quinn came with us. We got coffee and some yummy but very bad for you pastries and sat and ate them at a table outside. A girl named Katie came up to me with her little boy to introduce herself and to say how much she thinks of you. It was so sweet. They both were wearing their Rockstar Ronan bracelets. It made me smile and my heart melt all at the same time. Everybody loves you so much. Even strangers whom have never met you. It really is amazing all the love and support that has come of this. I will forever be grateful and humbled.

After our coffee, your daddy wanted me to grab him some bagels in town. Liz headed back and Quinn went with her. As much as I love being with your brother, the time to walk alone was nice. But then something weird happened. Something that I should probably get used to, but it still annoyed me. I was paying for our bagels and I felt like a hole was being burned in the back of my neck. I glanced to the side and there sat a family. A mom, dad, and three older daughters. They were staring with their sad eyes and talking in low voices. The girls had their backs to me, but were turned around in their seats while they all gawked. I don’t know if gawked is the right word here, but I’m using it anyway because that is what if felt like. At first, I thought is was my imagination so I just went on with my business and paid for our things. I could feel them all still staring, so as a natural reaction, I glanced their way to see if it was indeed true, and not just me making things up in my head. It was true. Once they saw me look back again, their eyes fell to the floor and they avoided anymore eye contact with me. I quickly rushed out of the bagel shop after that feeling very sad. I get it. Coronado is a very small place, a mini Phoenix. I know people know about you and just don’t know what to say. I know a lot of people just choose to say not say anything and that’s fine. But just a smile would have been nice. That way, maybe I wouldn’t have felt like a zoo animal on display. I hate the looks of pity. I understand the looks of sadness, but the pity looks only make everything even more painful. The looks of pity followed by awkward silence. I’m not a fan of that at all.

I walked back to the Shores trying not to get too sad about that I didn’t have you following behind me. I pictured you running on the boardwalk, doing something naughty like stepping on all the flowers. I pictured myself chasing after you, laughing, but trying to be stern about teaching you to respect nature. As tears started to form, I saw a woman walking in front of me, carrying a Paul Frank monkey bag. The tears stopped. I smiled instead. Then I got to thinking about life and how what if everything that happens is carefully orchestrated. That woman, that stranger, was put in front of me, in that single moment because I wasn’t supposed to be sad. She was put there to make me smile and think of you in regards to something that reminded me so much of you, in the form of happiness. My head starting spinning then and I took a deep breath and thanked you.

I came back upstairs and did my best to get on with the day. I failed. I sunk into bed and fell asleep for an hour. After kicking my own ass in my head, I got up and agreed to go to the beach with your brothers and daddy. It was warm out there today. We played beach darts, football, and I snapped a bunch of pictures. After a couple of hours, your daddy and brothers headed back up to the condo. I stayed down on the beach to finish my book. I now get to read books about sadness and grief. I am looking for answers that I am never going to find. What I wouldn’t give to have some trashy novel in my hands instead. What I wouldn’t give to be completely consumed in a summer beach read. I finished, “The Other Side of Sadness.” It was actually pretty good and interesting. It talked about surviving grief and how there is no step by step guide, which I am slowly figuring out. It talked a lot about different cultures and how death is perceived differently in each one. If anything, the book was informative in that way. I got a few good things out of it. A mother talked about losing her daughter after 9/11. She said one of the things she worried about most was forgetting the memories of her. After a few years passed by, the author asked her what bereavement felt like, years after losing her.She said, “It’s a bit like a fading light. It grows dim, but it never goes out, never, not completely anyway. I find that enormously ressuring. I used to worry that someday the light would disappear that I would forget, and then I would really have lost Claire. I know, now, that doesn’t happen. It can’t. There is always a little flicker there. It is a bit like the small glowing embares you see after you see a fire dies down. I carry that around with me, that little ember, and if I need to, if I want to have Claire next to me, I blow on it, ever so gently, and it glows bright again.”

I thought this was really beautiful. What a simple, non-complex way to bring peace to your heart. I know your little light will never flicker out, Ro. But it was nice to hear it from someone else, who has lost a child. Which I have also decided, is the worst thing that can ever happen in life. I’ve honestly thought about this for some time now, trying to throw in other losses that could even come close to comparing. There is nothing. Losing a child takes the cake. Losing you is like losing a million cakes all at once. I cried on the beach today at a lot of things said in this book. I took the time to sit, reflect, and watch the oceans waves all while being engulfed in the sound of two little girls building a sandcastle right beside me. Their dad apologized for their loudness. I wanted to say to him, it wasn’t loudness at all, but music to my ears. I watched them play for a while and then was determined to finish my book, which I did. Mr. Sparkly Eyes would have been proud that I actually finished it. I was proud of myself. For something so little, the fact that I am actually able to finish a book now is a big deal. Who cares that it takes me twice as long now. I did it, felt emotions from it, and now I can put it behind me. Check mark, please!

I came back upstairs, showered and got ready to go to dinner. We went to happy hour on the island and sat in the bar with Liam and Quinn. We had a really fun dinner. There seemed to be a lot of laugher, talking, and engaging. We have talked a lot about holidays and what are favorite and worst are and why. We have decided to make up a new holiday to celebrate on Easter. Woody says we should call it Feaster and make it all about food. I agreed as long as we could worship a giant chocolate Easter Bunny and not have to dress up in fancy clothes. Liam wants chocolate covered everything, including bacon and Quinn wants to play games. Sounds like we are on the right track to turning this into a lot of fun. I think I’ve said before that most holidays seem meaningless now. Easter is one of them for us. Down with Easter; Feaster is born. I would like to take it and put your spin on it of course, buddy. We’ll have to come up with some things that you would have wanted to have. I’m imagining huge glass bowls filled with your favorite, Candy Corn. I may have some funny shirts made up to and anyone wants to come is invited. Feaster is the new Easter at our house. We will not be giving thanks to Jesus Christ. Sorry folks. That’s not the way this holiday is going to be celebrated. If you are offended, sorry. If you are cool, come over:) We have decided after losing you, Ro…. that life is too short to do things you really don’t want to do. It’s time to start making up our own fun rules and traditions as a family. The Thompsons march to their own beat and we are going to embrace that now more than ever. You earned that right, you loved to break all the rules, so that is what we are going to do. Some rules really are meant to be broken in life, only to be put back together, much better than they had ever been before.

After dinner, we walked around and the boys got cupcakes for desert. I stayed away from those due to my stomach issues. All of my favorite things, sweets, cupcakes, frosting…. destroy me. It’s as if my body is rejecting them. Oh well. I’ll take rejecting them rather than scarfing them down. At least my pants will still fit:) We came back to the condo, I got dressed for a dreaded run. It was chilly out but I did it anyway. Just 4 miles up and down the beach. I sat down for a while and talked out loud to you. I like to talk out loud to you. I did a lot of talking and crying to you. It felt good to listen to my voice say those words to you tonight, alone on the beach. After our little pow wow, I got my sandy butt up and finished my run. I showered and Quinn had asked to watch, “The Cove,” on my computer. I thought about it and said it was o.k. Why not educate him and his  young mind on how corrupt this world really can be. He’s already had the worst thing possible happen to him, he loves to watch, “Whale Wars,” so let’s do it. I watched it with him and explained this is why I have a hard time going to Sea World and swimming with Dolphins. It is one of the saddest movies ever and those Japanese “Fishermen,” need to be stopped. Watch the movie if you haven’t seen it. You will be so appalled that you will want to help expose what is going on. They are slaughtering those beautiful creatures left and right. It is beyond sicking and maddening. Especially to me now, Ro. After all the time we’ve spent watching the dolphins here, it makes me even more upset. What is wrong with people in this world?? Are they that selfish and greedy?? The slaughter of these poor innocent mammels has got to stop. How am I supposed to take on Childhood Cancer and this Dolphin slaughtering together?? I feel like it is my second calling in life. I felt that way when I first saw this movie. I am totally passionate about it and I think it is a beautiful thing for my boys to learn about. They have already learned about death in a way they should have never known, but now they can take this and turn it into nd learn how we need to respect these beautiful mammals, and how if you are passionate enough about something, that you can change the outcome. Sign me up! I’ll kick cancers ass and the japanese fisherman’s as well!! Bring it on, yo!!!

It’s going to take shit like this to get my ass out of bed in the mornings. I am planning on jumping back into boot camp next week. I need to email Tammy to tell her if I don’t have a reason to get up, I’m just not going to. She needs to be my reason for a while. Until I find a new reason. Although, waking up for her boot camps were always my favorite reasons to get up and exercise in the mornings. I hope she’ll save a spot for me:) Phoenix Adventure Boot Camp is by far, the best one in AZ. Tammy rules!!!!

Do you all see what I’m doing here? I’m slowly planning little things so that I don’t barricade myself in Ronan’s room and never come out. Ro, I can not, not, live for you. God. You would be so mad at me for my sadness and anger these past couple of weeks. You would be so mad at me for laying in bed. I’ve got to get up and do things for you. I don’t have a choice. I’m not willing to go down so easily and just die. Then what? Then everybody loses. I’m going to stay in this fucking fucked up world without you, and try to change some things. You would want this. You would be proud. As much as I want to escape into a non reality world, which means hiding in bed, ignoring everyone, not taking care of your Daddy, your brothers, our house…… I just can’t. I can’t have your brothers remembering me as that mom. They’ve been through enough already. I can do this, Ro. Just promise you’ll always be right by my side. I feel like you are, I really do feel you during the day. Please don’t ever go away, Ro. I already miss you so much.

Alright little buddy. My favorite not spicy monkey boy. I love you to the moon and back. I hope you are safe. I hope it’s a kissing day because I miss your sweet little kisses so much. Sweet dreams.

xoxo

Game over! I lose, you win! Bring back my baby!

Ronan. Hi my baby. I have not written in a few days. I’m sorry. It’s hard for me to write when your daddy is here and your brothers do not go to bed until super late. I’m not sure what we’ve done. The usual, except these past two days have been really hard on me. Struggling with a lot of things I guess. Panicking that we are coming back to Phoenix soon. I don’t know how I’m going to walk into our empty house without you. How I’m going to go back to our life without you. I’ve done a lot of crying. A lot of screaming. A lot of this cannot be my life. But it is. Nothing can change that.

I remember feeling o.k. just a few days ago. I remember laughing with Liz as we decided to rent paddle boards and take them out in the ocean. We somehow managed to get those monstrous beasts in my car. One stuck out the sunroof, the other one out the back-end of my car as we drove though town with my trunk open. We broke just a few traffic violations. Once we got to the beach, we put on our sunscreen and took our Orange and Lime Green Zinc sunscreen on and wrote “Ro,” on one side of our cheek, and a big star on the other. I told Liz that it was our way of taking you with us and you would protect us from Sharks;) Genius idea. We took Liam and Quinn out with us first, somehow managing to get them past the break of the waves. Quinn was on my board with me as I swam us out further into the ocean. I crawled up on the board with him as I listened to him tell me how we were out too far, how he didn’t like it, how he was scared. I validated all of his feelings but also explained to him that he needed to take in a deep breath and just look at nature and the beauty of the ocean. I talked to him about how important these experiences were in life, because if you don’t take chances trying new things, the beauty of things will never be discovered. He listened to me, but didn’t seem to buy much of it. I paddled him back into shore, and he played on the beach while I went back out into the ocean. I fell in love with paddle boarding or Sup boarding as most people call it. It’s a lot harder than it looks and I was told by a friend, that you are supposed to learn how to do it in the Bay first, then move on to the ocean. Oh well. Go big or go home, right? It was a really peaceful experience although I did get a lot of bumps and bruises. I think Liz may have almost broken her foot due to a wipeout from a wave. Auntie Karen is convinced she needs an x-ray. The thought of just watching her live life and doing something new makes me smile though. I have learned the very hard way just how precious life really is and it makes me so sad to know that you will never be out there paddle boarding. It helped to have Liz there. And also, the dozen of dolphins that appeared. Liz kept saying what a great day it was. I couldn’t have agreed more.

Yesterday, I woke up early as I wanted to have a productive day. I know what happens if I don’t get myself tasks to do or something to wake up for as that is exactly what happened today. I got up before anyone else, I ran to Chula Vista to the car wash there. It is the one I used to always take you to. I got the car washed and on the drive home, I started to panic. The pain and memory of being there without you was just too much. I called Tricia and cried to her, screamed to her how I just wanted you back. How scared I am to go on without you. How I don’t want to. I sat in my car after I got off the phone with her and sobbed for 2 hours. I talked to Doriet for a good half an hour. We talked about you and Esther and how hard of the time we are both having. We seem to be in a very similar place. I talked to Mr. Sparkly Eyes. He did the thing he is best at which seems to be calming me down with his stern, yet compassionate words. He ended the conversation by telling me to get my ass out of the car and inside the house. I listened.

Once inside the house, I showered and tried my best to pull it together for the sake of your brothers. I put on my best “I’m dying on the inside, but smiling on the outside,” act. We went to lunch. I ate my half of sandwich. I threw it up. We got in the car and drove to the Del Mar race tracks. Bad idea. We acted like the perfect family. Somebody in line, waiting to bet, commented on how cool it was that we took our boys to bet on some horses. I just smiled. We went outside and watched a couple of races. My head was spinning. It seemed as if everyone around us was smoking. I couldn’t stop obsessing about it. I finally looked at Woody and said to him, “Look at all of these people, smoking. Why are they doing that?” He just shook his head. Everywhere I looked, people were drinking, laughing, all dressed up. Life was going on. How could it be? How can all of those people, just go on like you are not gone? How do they not all know about you?? I made us leave after about 45 minutes. It was all I could take. Once we got back to our condo, I told your daddy and brothers that I needed a little quiet time. I went down to the pool and sat with Auntie Karen for a couple of hours. I sobbed to her about you. I talked to her. She is worried, she is sad, she is hurting, she is missing you. She sat and held my hand and told me how I can get through this, how I will get through this, because I don’t have a choice. I told her I just wanted to go to sleep and never wake up. She talked about how that isn’t what you would want, how that wouldn’t be honoring your life. I told her I knew, but all I want is to be with you. She said that she thinks you are always with me. I still wonder where you are. After my day of crying, I somehow managed to get back upstairs and I put myself in bed. I popped an Ambien at 8:30 p.m. Lights out early for me, which I never do.

Guess what time I got out of bed today? 2:00 p.m. Bad mommy. I couldn’t do it today. I slept and cried and slept and cried. I held on to your blanket. Your daddy tried to pull me out of bed. I told him I hated him. I told him he promised me you wouldn’t die. I told him to bring you back. I said a lot of mean things that I shouldn’t have. I am human. I make mistakes. I am sorry for my words, as I didn’t mean them. It is as if I am turning into this person who is going to let cancer win. I’m spinning out of control into a world that I don’t want to be in, but I don’t know if I have the strength left to fight it. I’ve fought this since the second you got sick. I’m tired. Am I going to have to fight this hard for the rest of my life?? Will I ever feel normal again?? Will there ever come a day that I can just do something so simple and sweet like enjoy the sweet San Diego sun without feeling like a knife has just been ripped through my heart when I see families with their 3 boys, riding bikes around the island??

Today, after your daddy pried me out of bed, I got up and showered. We headed out for a movie. Captain America. I was restless. Quinn didn’t like it. I took Olivia and Quinn to the bathroom in the middle of the movie. We didn’t go back to our seats after that. I couldn’t sit still, I couldn’t concentrate, my mind kept wandering to places it shouldn’t be. The 3 of us walked around Fashion Valley instead. We met your daddy and Liam at P.F. Changs for dinner. We colored a Kitty Cat for Liz and sent her a picture of it. I engaged as best as I could. I played a game of scrabble with Liam on my phone. He beat me. I was happy to let him;)

Once we returned home, I slipped out for a much-needed 8 mile run. I ran at a fast pace…. 8:08 tonight. My whole body hurt but I didn’t care. I don’t care. Whenever the pain sets in I think of you. I think of you and all that poison they put into your little body. I think off all the surgeries, the bone marrow aspirations, the pokes, the prods, all the things that caused you pain. You pushed through it so I will too. I talked to a friend tonight about you. He told me everything I already know but I need to hear it. He told me how it is unacceptable to lay in bed all day, how it is unfair to Liam and Quinn. I know he is right. I will try harder tomorrow. We only have a little time left here. It is important that we make that time special. I don’t want them ending their summer going back to Phoenix with memories of me not getting out of bed. That is so unfair to them. Do you want to hear the saddest thing yet? Quinny, your 8-year-old brother, thinks it’s his job to take care of me. Quinn. I was in bed tonight, reading and he was walking all around, putting things away, asking me if I needed dinner because I didn’t eat. He asked if he could make me a sandwich. He asked if he could bring me a water and then did and opened the bottle for me. He put away my camera that was out of its case. He finally laid down by me with his iPad. He said he wanted to write to you. This is what he wrote:

To Ronan today we went to see a move to see caption america i love you ro from Quinn

He also wrote this:

Good Night ronan I love you from quinn to ronan

As I read it he laid his little head down on my arm. I whispered in his ear that you love him too. 3 seconds later, I felt warms tears dripping on my arm. They were his tears. I grabbed him, held him, told him how sorry I was, how I would do anything to bring you back. I sat and we cried together. I told him how important it is to cry about you, how healthy it is for us because we cannot keep it bottled up inside. I told him how proud I was of him. He soon fell asleep in my arms. The angle of his face tonight from where I was watching him, looked exactly like you Ronan. I see a lot of you in Quinn all of the time. It makes me smile. After Quinn fell asleep, I tried to join him, without my Ambien. FAIL. I slept for maybe an hour, but tossed and turned. I just had to pop one about 20 minutes ago. Here we go, coma induced sleep. It’s not good for me and my dreams are fighting to come out. I have remembered a couple of them. I never get to see you. I’m always talking to people and they are always saying how sorry they are that you are gone. I’m always the mom who lost her son. I can’t be that mom for the rest of my life. I have to make something bigger come out of this so I won’t get overshadowed by that title. Tomorrow will be a better day, right?? It has to be. I’ve got to get out of this bad place that I am in. Like Doriet said to me, we have 2 choices, to either live this life, or not. And if we do decide to stay, then we have to live it to the best we are capable of. Laying in bed all day is just not the answer. So if that won’t work, then what will? That is what I have to figure out little man. I need your help more than ever.

I know I am going to need deep, intensive therapy when we get back. So is your daddy and the boys. I’ve got to deal with this stuff head on or else it is just going to fester and get worse and worse. I am ready to start working hard to save myself. If I can save myself, I feel like I can save everything else that needs to be saved. I might actually be able to go on as a wife and mother. But that’s not going to happen if I don’t start doing some seriously deep grief counseling. This will become my job for a while. I’m so pissed I want to punch this computer screen. I don’t want this job. I want the job of taking care of you, Ronan. JUST FUCKING COME BACK HERE ALREADY! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! THIS EXPERIMENT IS OVER. I FAILED. I FAILED BECAUSE I AM HALF A HUMAN BEING, WIFE, MOTHER WITHOUT YOU. YOU WIN. PLEASE JUST BRING HIM BACK TO ME!!!! I scream these words all the time. I have decided that I am not sane anymore. Hey, at least I’ve got that figured out. At least I’ve got that going for me. Lock me up and throw away the key. I don’t care.

Ronan. I’m sorry if I’m making you sad by being so sad. I would never want that. I hope you still believe in me and know I can still do this. But mommy is going to have more bad days then good for a while. At least that’s what they say. Seems to make sense. I’m sleepy now. I miss you so much. I love you to the moon and back my favorite not spice monkey boy. I hope you are safe. Sweet dreams, Ro. Please visit your brothers in their dreams tonight. They need you.

xoxo

Fiesta of Tears

Ronan. Hi little man. I missed you so much today. We had a lot of things going on that kept us busy at the beach. I packed the car full of your favorites; Quinny, Liam, Macy, and Nana. We ran a couple of errands and stopped at Costco on the way back home. It wasn’t very exciting, but it was nice to be out. We had to hurry back to get your brother, Liam, packed to go to Washington to see Papa Jim. It was kind of a last-minute decision, but he really wanted to go. I’m trying to look at this as a positive thing, but I am mostly just upset about it. I’m upset in the respect that if you would have been here, we would all be there together. I am upset in the respect that we have to be separated from Liam. It makes me most upset that our family is now broken, damaged, and so sad due to losing you. This is the first time in Liam and Quinn’s life that they have ever been away from each other on a vacation. It all feels weird and wrong. Thank GOD I still have Macy here as well as the Kotaliks. Quinn is getting a lot of time with the girls in and he is eating it up with a spoon. I talked to Liam and he arrived safely. He sounded so excited to be there. Papa Jim will bring him back Sunday night and the will stay a few days with us. That will be fun. I only wish you were here to play with all of us. For a split second, I thought that you would be and I imagined you playing outside with him. But then I remember. The fucking one thing I want not be true…………is.

I hate cancer. I texted that to Mr. Sparkly Eyes tonight. Blubbering about how this is the first time in 14 years that I have not been home during the summer, how it is the twins’ first time being separated during a Washington vacation. How I hated cancer and how I was having a pity party. He replied back he does too and I am allowed to have as many pity parties as I need. He was so sorry. Everybody is sorry and sad. I hate that too. I hate the sadness that people now feel for us. I don’t want people to be sad around us. I want happy back before all of this existed.

Ro. I have to cut this short tonight as my Ambien is really kicking in. Also, that I have Macy and Quinn asleep beside me and they both seem so snuggly. I am tired. I miss you so much, boo. I hope you are safe. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Please give Esther a kiss for me. Her mommy needs her tomorrow as it has been 2 months since she passed away. Make sure she spends some time with her tomorrow, o.k. Ro. I love you to the moon and back my sweet baby. Time to go into my Ambien coma now. The numbness is the only way I can fall asleep.

xoxo

Ronan. Hi baby boy. I think I started this yesterday. Last night maybe. I can’t really remember. Everything is blurry. I’m not sure how the days have been filled, but somehow they have been. I think a majority of my time is being filled with keeping Quinn busy and happy. Macy is doing a great job of helping me while your daddy and Liam are away. She is here with me still. I am so glad; she makes everything better. Today, we woke up a little late to the blaring sun. We decided to take Quinn out to Carlsbad to go Strawberry picking. We go there every time we are in San Diego during the summer. We were on our way, almost there, but I had to stop for gas. I decided to get a car wash too so we just ran through a little drive through one. We were sitting there and I was telling Macy how you used to love to go to the cheap drive through car wash in Phoenix with me. I remember it like it was yesterday. I started to cry and so did she. Quinn just sat in the back quietly and watched us. Thank god we were distracted by a very minor “the car wash just ate the gas cap of my car emergency,” otherwise, I think we would have both sat there forever, crying. We took care of our situation and headed off to pick our Strawberries. It felt so wrong to be there without you today. I remember the last time we were there, with you. I snapped pictures of you and your brothers in the Strawberry fields together. Today, Quinn was an only child and I watched him as he wandered through the day without you and Liam. It made my heart heavy.

Quinny is stuck to me like glue. And not in a good way. Poor little guy. He cannot leave my side for 2 minutes. This has been going on pretty much since your funeral. It has gotten really bad over here though. I am doing my best to be patient with him as I know he is so scared. I am trying to talk to him about everything as much as possible, but I have mostly just been smothering him with love and attention that he seems to be craving so badly. He worries so much about everything… especially when I leave to go on my runs which is pretty much the only time that I am away from him. We have a lot of work to do when we return back home as far as getting us all into therapy. I am trying my best while we are here to work though things with him, but there is only so much I can do. Having Macy here for as long has she has been has been really helpful with everything. She is so good with me, the boys, with the Wooddawg. She is scared for us though. She told me last night about how hard it is for her to watch us all try to go on with our lives. How unfair this whole thing is and how she see’s the toll it is taking on our entire family. She is watching me struggle to breathe every second of the day. She is watching as I continue to push everyone away. She is watching as I continue to drown. I know what I look like. I know what it looks like from the outside because I often feel like I am watching myself from above my own body. I see myself, from above, all the time. I see myself under the water, trying to get to the surface for air, but I never do. I watch the bubbles reach the top, but never my body. I watch my eyes and I can tell you that I can see them crying the tears I cry, while I’m trying to get to the surface for air. It never happens. I see my eyes, and the bubbles and the dark, black ocean. I see Ronan. I think about this a lot during my runs when I am having a hard time breathing because I am running so fast. It makes me run faster. So does the thought of my “slayer,” attacking me. I daydream about that…. about the day that someone will come out and grab me on one of my runs and they will kill me, but not before I have the time to send Woody a text message saying how much I love him, Quinn and Liam, how they are all my soul mates but I have to go and be with my other soul mate now. Which is you, Ro. I daydream about the day I will be reunited with you all of the time and I go over all the different ways in which it could happen. I’m not scared of it. Even when I picture my eyes as I am drowning in a sea of black water…. my eyes are still vibrant green and they are happy; even though they are filled with tears. I’m not scared of death anymore. I watched you die right before my very eyes. I know when my time comes, it will be a beautiful thing and you will be waiting for me on the other side. I cannot wait for that day, until I see your little face again. To kiss your sweet lips and to hear your squeaky voice. I miss you so much.

After the Strawberry fields, we had nowhere special to be. We decided to drive down PCH and enjoy the scenery and sunshine. We opened the sunroof, blasted Pearl Jam, and watched the ocean come alive with surfers, people, birds, and sparkling sand. We stopped for lunch at a little Mexican food place as none of us had eaten today and Macy said she could not take being on the “Maya diet,” for one second longer. We sat and ate and started to talk about you. We talked about Dr. Kushner and have decided that the way he was with us, is just his personality. He cuts off all emotional ties when he knows the outcome is not going to be good. He has had to desensitize himself so he can do his job, the best way he knows how. Unfortunately, that means often making people feel more awful about their situation and leaving them feeling let down, helpless, and regretful. He is like a robot as I’m sure he decided a long time ago this is how he was going to be when he decided to become a Pediatric Oncologist. That still does not make it right and I will  have my sit down with him and he will look me in the eyes. I promised Ronan and myself. I will get this done. Sooner, rather than later. I want to go out there in the Fall. I’m not going to put this off.

I was telling Macy about your amazing hair color and how I was so sad she never knew you when you had hair. We started looking at pictures on my phone of you and the tears started again. At one point, I was so consumed by guilt for being in San Diego, at the beach, when there are so many sick kids with cancer right now. I felt like running right to the nearest hospital just so I could be in the presence of all of those amazing kids. I felt guilty that I wasn’t doing something for them, at that moment. A lot of the guilt came from knowing I was sitting there with Macy and Quinn, with the sunshine on our backs, the memories of you flooding in, and how many kids are trapped in hospitals and do not have the freedom that we do. I don’t like this freedom I have without you, Ronan. It gives me major anxiety and I will never be able to enjoy it again. I look at people around me, who have no clue, and they are just so happy. Happy at the beach, happy together as a family, happy because they all still live in their little bubble of a world. It makes me want to throw up. In fact, I did throw up tonight after we came home. Just driving through the town of Coronado is enough to do me in. I get so sick to my stomach that we are here and you just died almost 2 months ago. FUCK. July 9th is coming up soon. It will have been 2 months since you passed away. That is not going to be a fun day. Please watch over me on that day, Ronan. I know you do everyday, but especially on that day. I hope you were with Esther last night. I wish I would have dreamt of you two, together. My dreams are black and empty. Just like my heart.

After our fiesta of tears, we hopped back in the car and continued on our way. We ended up pulling over in Del Mar to enjoy the amazing beach. Quinn, Macy and I all held hands and ran to put our toes in the sand. It was such a gorgeous time of day and the beach was breathtaking. Quinn took off, alone, and went to find some rocks. He never does things alone and I could see the sadness on his face as he had to do all of this without you and Liam today. He soon came over and asked if I would help him. I said of course and off we went. We ended finding some really pretty rocks for his collection which he is so into right now. He was so proud of them. Macy and I could have eaten him up with a spoon today. He really is everything, kind, sweet, and full of nothing but love. As I was getting my purse out to pay for parking at the beach today, Quinn goes, “I have money in my wallet, mom. I can pay for it.” Cutest thing ever. He has saved up his money and has offered to pay for anything  and everything. I keep telling him no, to save his money, but I know how proud it would make him to buy a little something for me. I’ll let him leave the tip at a restaurant or buy me a coffee soon. What a gentleman. Some girl is going to be very lucky one of these days.

We finally got home around 7:30 and everyone seemed pretty tired. We put in “The Wedding Singer,” and watched it together. Now, Quinn is in the middle of Me and Mace. They are snuggled up together so sweetly. Macy is like the sister I never had; but I should have. I totally have that sisterly connection with her and it has always come so naturally to us. I swear I’ve know her in a past life as well. Maybe we were sisters then. There has to be something….. the way we met, and had an instant bond. The way Ronan loved her so much and we all know how picky he is about people. He took to Macy instantly too. He knew Macy in a past life too; I’m just sure of it. I feel like the new people I’ve really, truly, deeply connected to since all of this, are people that Ronan and I have both known before. I’ve got my list….. there are about 10 people on it. I will forever hold these people close to my heart as I consider them family now. It’s as if I have a whole new family, thanks to Ronan. Just another one of his little gifts he has left behind. You, my son, amaze me everyday.

Alright my little man. It’s late and Macy told me I needed to go to sleep early tonight. Early means 2 a.m. not 4 a.m. I’m going to snuggle up with them now. I wish you were here to snuggle with us. I miss you baby. I hope you are safe. Sweet dreams my favorite blue eyed boy. I love you, Ro.

xoxo

  

New York Miss Macy and the Candy Store Girl

Ronan. Hi my baby. Nighttime is here. The stars are out. Everyone is asleep. Slumber party in my bed. I hate the time between now, and when I actually fall asleep. It’s too quiet, too calm, too still,  and too lonely without you. It’s the time when my heart feels the heaviest and my mind is so restless. Thoughts of you being gone fill my head and cannot be stopped. It’s as if my mind is screaming that you are gone, but my heart refuses to believe it. I cannot fully accept what is the truth, as true as it is. The magnitude of life without you is too much to take. This is a big part of why I write to you. I write until I can take no more, until I am so tired, that my mind and body finally give in and sleep comes to me. I have no idea how I am getting through this thing called life, especially with the lack of sleep that now consumes me. Somehow, I just keep on going, trying to do my best to ignore everything that is telling me to stop. I want so badly to stop being strong. I would give anything to have you back and to float through life, without knowing this pain. Who the fuck decided this was my lot in life? I want a refund.

All I can say is thank god for New York Miss Macy. I was this close to jumping off our balcony today. Ok…. not really, but she could not have come at a better time. Your brothers and I need a distraction and some laughs. She provided both of those things today. As soon as she arrived, there were hugs all around. We got her settled in and decided to walk to go and get some lunch. We took her to Burger Lounge, where and we all had lunch. Afterwords, we stopped at the candy store to get some treats. The same candy store that has toy pistols and rifles handing on the walls. All I wanted was for you to be with me so I could buy you one. I imagined you running down the street with us, shooting everyone. I stared at them for a minute and caught myself starting to get choked up. I am so glad for what happened next as it has kept me giggling all night. I watched this scene play out like a movie. Let’s call it: “New York Miss Macy and the Candy Store Girl.” Ready……scene….. ACTION!

– Maya goes to the register to pay for her candy and the grouchy teenaged girl working, gives her the total bill with a scowl on her face. Maya watches as New York Miss Macy is standing next to her and takes a couple of pieces of candy out of her bag, before paying, and starts to eat them. Maya watches as the Candy Store girls eyes glance over to New York Miss Macy and a look of annoyance comes over her face. Maya thinks to herself, “Is the Candy Store girl really getting mad because Macy is eating a few pieces of her bulk candy before she pays??” She decides it is only her imagination as isn’t it a given that you munch on a few pieces of candy before you pay when you go into a  bulk candy store?? Not 3 seconds later, the Candy Store girl looks at Macy and goes, “I’m going to actually need you to PAY for that candy, BEFORE you eat it.” Macy, whom is clueless as to what she was even doing because it is just second nature, looks up and goes, “Um…. what?? Yeah, o.k.” Maya is trying to hide her laugher. Macy pays and we scurried out of the store. As soon as we exited, we burst into laughter. Macy goes, “Wait, did I really just get reprimanded for eating a few pieces of my candy by a 15-year-old girl? What is she, the candy police???” This is so something that would only happen to Macy. It made for a lot of laughs tonight.

After our candy store incident, we continued on our walk back to our condo. As we were all 4 walking back, we were looking out at the ocean. Dolphins appeared. We stopped to watch and ended up climbing down some rocks to sit on the beach for a while. We watched the dolphins and played in the sand and water. We ended up having a sand and water fight because sometimes in life, it just makes sense to do silly things like that. It made perfect sense tonight. You would have loved every second of it. At one point, Liam and Quinn were in the distance, playing, just the two of them. It was surreal to watch and I felt as though I was having an out-of-body experience. I will never get used to it just being the two of them, without you injected in the middle. Nothing is right anymore and nothing makes sense. As we were walking back, I got a text from Danielle. It was if she had read my mind from a few minutes earlier as her wording was almost eerie. Something along the lines of how she wants you back so badly for me that it hurts. How you are the light, the finishing touch, the pistol that keeps me alive. She then ended it with, “Fuck. I hate life.” Danielle is one of those people in my life who just gets it. She gets everything. She has a lifeline to my soul and to yours. Her words brought me comfort, for as sad as they may be; they are always true and real. She takes the time to really sit and think about all of this that we are going through and when we do talk about it, I feel as if she is living inside my mind because she says everything that I am thinking. We have a very strong spiritual connection. Thanks, D. Miss you much.

Now that Macy is here, I was able to get in my run tonight. I was totally unmotivated and dreading it. I almost didn’t go. The little voice in the back of my head would not have shut up if I didn’t. I knew this so I headed out the door and ran a fast 6 miles. It actually ended up being a really good run. I’ve missed the pain and release of running these past few days. I broke my record on my NIKE iPhone app for my fastest 10k. Guess I was feeling it after all. I returned feeling better and hopped in the shower before we started movie night. The boys and I decided that we would introduce Macy to one of our favorite movies, Ro. “Zombieland.” She had never seen it and it had her laughing within seconds of turning it on. The more I watch that movie, the more I love it. Seriously, Top 10 favorite movies of all time for me. She loved it too. I knew that during all that laugher, one thing was going to get to her. That one line that will forever cut like a knife. “Take away a man’s son, and you’ve truly given him nothing left to lose.” I watched her wipe the tears from her eyes. I’ve decided that I would like to live in Zombieland because this normal life without you is for the birds. If I have to live without you, I would rather do it by being a badass and killing Zombies than living in this painful life that now exists. At least I would have a lot of things to take my anger out on, besides myself and the nobody who answers to me. The nobody that is to blame, the invisible being that took you away. Somebody should have to answer to me and to explain why. I hate that nobody can give me a reason for this because there should be a reason. If you had to be taken away, I want to know why. And I don’t want to spend the rest of my life trying to figure out why this happened to you, but I don’t know how I can ever come to peace with any of this unless I have somewhat of an answer. Gee, fuckwad. Thanks for the fucking journey that I now get to figure out in life. Thanks for taking my beautiful life and smashing it into a million pieces. I HATE YOU.

But I love you, Ro. I love you to the moon and back. I am still here, despite my pleas to you. I’ll stay here for as long as you want me to be. I know I have to help change the way of this disease for you. Everything I do in my life will be for you. Everything I have done in my life since the birth of you and your brothers, has always been done by putting you all first. I was so happy to do this. It brought me such happiness. Now, I have to go on and continue to do what I have been doing for so long, which is being a mom; without you. I will continue to do this but I will never stop feeling like I have a limb missing. As well as a big chunk of my heart. This is permanent. These scars are not going anywhere. I don’t know how people say they fade either. If anything, I think they just get worse. They are for me anyway. To each his own.

I love you baby. I love you so, so much. I miss you every second of the day. I hope you are safe.

xoxo

                             Family Forever

New York Miss Macy, Quinny, Mama Maya, and Li Li