Birthdays and holidays always leave me with a sense of sadness when these moments are meant to be celebrated and to enjoy them with family and friends. Saturday my oldest will be turning 6 and how I wish his dad could be her for that day.
The firsts was of course the most difficult with Chris passing on November 24, the Sunday before Thanksgiving it left me with no desire to celebrate. Chris had family that I had never met so they invited us over to enjoy Thanksgiving with them at first I did not want to go because I did not know these people in the end I am glad and blessed that I decided to go. I heard stories from his childhood that of course I know he would have been embarrassed about. I learned important information and the family history and just being around them made the day a little bit more bearable.
Celebrating our first Christmas without was not an easy task either, but the wonderful staff at Bridgestone/Firestone where Chris worked adopted us for Christmas so it definitely made Christmas a little bit easier because I was still on maternity leave so I had no income coming in. I know my kids were still very young but they were able to enjoy a good Christmas.
Birthdays are a little bit tougher for me to handle. With the holidays you are surrounded by people so it helps to keep your mind busy, but birthdays are typical just me and the kids so most of the time I let my thoughts take over. I started thinking about what would it be like if he was still here. Braylon’s birthday is in November he was one week and five days old when he passed away.
The Life of a Young Widow Mother 