Day 22 – DREAMS + RITUALS

Day 22 – DREAMS + RITUALS Do you have any dreams for your future? DO you dream of your children? Do you have any grief rituals? What do you do on your children’s birthdays, anniversaries or special dates.

I am always trying to think of ways to celebrate/remember Corbyn's days. Having just had both and it being the second year it still feels like I have no idea what I'm doing, or what I'm wanting.  This year I baked him a Spider-Man cake and we went to his grave and celebrated with him. 

We went and got chicken nuggets and fries since that was one of his favorite food. 

We colored with chalk on the road that's  right next to his grave. 

Then we wrote messages on balloons and released them to Heaven.

For his angelversary I made royal blue cupcakes. 

Then wrote on royal blue balloons and sent them to Corby in Heaven. 

As far as dreams go I haven't dreamt about Corby since right after he passed. The first dream I had of him was of him giving me kisses like he used to all the time. It felt so real like it was really happening. I felt like I could really feel him on my lips. I feel like that was him telling his mama goodbye and that he was OK. The second dream I had was Jesus was giving him back to me. I remember how happy I was in that dream. Then I woke up and my nightmare began again. I, now, daydream about that feeling and dream about the day that I do get my son back again. To raise him just where I left off. I feel like that was Jesus telling me that during that dream. That I will get my son back. Just not in my timing.

I wish Corby would come visit me more, but for now I hold onto the dreams I have gotten.  

Day 21 – SACRED SPACE

Day 21 – SACRED SPACE 

Do you have a special place that you visit to “be” with your children? A place that you feel connected to? Maybe it is their grave, or a beautiful garden, beach or forest. Maybe it is a special spot dedicated to them in your home, like a shrine or altar. What does this place mean to you? Why that place? If you haven’t got a sacred place that you visit to remember your children, maybe have a think about finding a beautiful place that you can visit to remember them. Or maybe you could create one in your home. It is never too late to do this. Having a sacred space for you to visit to just be, is wonderful for your soul. It gives you some time out to just allow yourself to calm your heart and reconnect with the love that you have for your children. Once you find a space, put on some beautiful music, make yourself a cup of tea and light a candle and clear the space so it is clean and new. Think about what you would like to place on your altar. Some ideas are fresh flowers, a candle, photographs, pieces of paper with your favourite quotes of poetry. An ornament that represents your child. Some people place pieces of Earth on their altars such as seashells, feathers or crystals. People of faith usually place small statues of their spiritual teachers such as Jesus, Mother Mary, Buddha etc. The beauty about your altar is that you can make it whatever you desire and it will grow, change and evolve over time. It a lovely idea to keep a photographic record of how it changes with your grief and life experience. I light a candle or some incense every morning and every night on my altar. It gives me a beautiful space to reflect, pray, meditate or just a moment to set a new intention for my day. 

The one sacred place that I really felt as sacred before we moved to our new home was the last place that I set my son as I performed CPR on him. I remember going back to our home to grab something that I needed for my half marathon the week after Corbyn passed. We were staying with my parents because it was too hard to go home to the emptiness. I remember standing there on that spot staring into his empty crib and I felt him so close to me like he was wrapping his arms around me. The forensics people took everything out of his crib for forensic evidence so it was just the mattress. The stain where the liquid from his lungs that were breaking down still stained the part of the mattress where his face was as he laid face down.  I put my hands on the edge of his crib and there was this unbelievable energy that flowed through me. 

Now that we have moved into a new house all I have left of that sacred place is his crib. It's still set up and frequently I will go and put my hand on the edge of his crib and just stare into his it. I have since put some blankets it there that were his that weren't taken that night. I finally had enough courage to go and pick up his stuff from the police department, but I have yet to open the evidence bags. I'm afraid of the emotions it will bring. It was emotional enough for the lady to have to go through the lists that were attached on the outside of each bag so that I could "check them out". She kept asking me if I needed to have her put them back and I could come back another day. I, unbelievably, made it through and took his things home. I would like to make a Corby flower garden and calm sitting area in our backyard once we get that landscaped. I hope that I will be able to make that special and will be able to find some solace when I am sitting there. 

His grave is also sacred to me. People try to tell me that he's not there and that it's just his shell. I have a hard time with that and I don't find comfort in that at all. That shell is what I held day after day for 411 days. That was the shell I nourished with the milk my body produced for 411 days. The shell I kissed for 411 days and so on. So I go to his grave and talk to "his shell". I lie over his grave and cry because that shell is under that dirt I lie on. Therefore, his grave is sacred to me. 

A sacred item I have that is so precious to me is my c-section scar. It's my reminder that I gave birth to my son and he gave me that scar. I will run my finger over it all the time trying to remember that joyful day that I received that scar. Trying to remember what it felt like to hold him for the first time. Some days I can feel it like it was yesterday. Other days I get panicked because I can't remember. 

His clothing that still sits in his dirty clothes bin is sacred, as well. I have barely been able to look in there. His clothing, for that matter, is sacred. People ask me if I want to make a quilt of all of his clothes. I can't. To me it feels like if I cut his clothes up that I'm cutting him up. Maybe some day I'll be ok with it, but for now they all still sit there. Untouched. 

I'm sure I will probably find more and different sacred things, but for now I'm just grasping onto what I can. 

Day 19 – MUSIC

Day 19 – MUSIC In grief we can resonate with music because it communicates the deep emotions we are feeling and cannot put into words. Sometimes there are no words that accurately describe what we are experiencing and that is why I think I find myself so often lost in sounds and melodies. Share some music that enriches your life or reminds you of your children. Is there a story behind that piece of music for you? 

Music has always been soothing to me. I love listening to almost every genera out there, but instrumental-classical type music has been the most soothing to me. The morning after Corby passed I remember pulling out my phone to turn on music to help calm me down. That day I turned on music by an artist named Hilary Weeks. It's more religious type music, but that was what I needed. I needed to have someone else tell me that my son was in Heaven. To speak to my broken soul. To help me know that my son was OK and happy. I have always believed that after death that there was Heaven, but I began to have a lot of doubts after my whole world came crashing down around me. Everything that I knew suddenly changed without any warning. Everything I had faith in had just failed me. 

Now whenever I feel like I'm going to have an anxiety attack or  feel uneasy I will turn on some kind of soothing music. The majority of the time I can close my eyes and focus more on the music than what's going on with me. 

Corby also loved to dance to music whenever it would come on. His favorite, though, was the intro music to Bo On The Go. He would wave his little hand in the air and bounce up and down when ever the show would come on. I loved watching him do it and I have several videos of him dancing to it. When he first passed I didn't want Addy to turn on the show and watch it because it was too hard for me to even listen to it. Now I'm OK with it and, for the most part, it will bring happy memories of my little guy dancing to it. I tried, just the other day, to turn it on for Ledgyr and see of he reacted the same way to it. He didn't want to have anything to do with it. Now I know that it was a favorite of just Corby's and not just because it was a catchy tune that every baby would dance to. 

I miss watching him and all his little dances. He was such a silly little boy! I would like to, some day, incorporate Bo On The Go into honoring Corby somehow. I've thought about donating copies of it to a library with a little insert talking about Corby and how he love it, but I'm not quite sure exactly what to do. One day the perfect idea will come to me. For now that's just our family's little memory or our Corby. 

Day 18 – SEASONS + SYMBOLS (Brock's entry)

Day 18 – SEASONS + SYMBOLS

What season do you associate with your children? Is it the season that they died in? Or maybe another reason like a beautiful time you spent together. What emotions arise in you when that season comes around. What is it in that season that triggers memories and feelings for you? Is it the scent in the air? The colour of the leaves? Do you look forward to this season because you feel more connected to your children or do you dread it? Have you ever wondered what you could do to ease the fear of what that season brings up for you? Do you have a symbols that represents your child? Maybe it is a butterfly or bird etc. Share how you came to find that symbol and what it means to you.

Brock asked if he could do today's entry since it is Corby's angelversary. 

On this day 2 years ago one of my worst nightmares became a reality. Corby passed away on October 18, 2013. The night and day this happened was surreal and as I look back today on those events they somethings are clear and others are a blur. Today as I write this I am to express things not many people know as I am a quiet person and don’t share my feelings a lot. I handle grief different than most. The first few days when we lost Corby I was a mess. I have never felt such great sadness in all my life. I could not even keep my self together. My wife had to take me on a walk and help get me back from the dark place I was in. Since those dark days I have chosen to be strong and remember my son in a happy manner rather than being sad and depressed. There are times when I am sad, but not like I was the first few days after Corby had passed. When I get the feelings of sadness I know Corby doesn’t want me to feel that way about him, he was a very very happy little boy during his time on earth and that's how I try to remember him. It's sad he is not here physically, and even though he was here for only a short 13 months he left an impression on everyone to last through eternity. 

For day 18 I told my wife I would take the chance to write down how I felt about Corby. Symbolism with someone that has past is easy, but there is something specific about the symbolism with Corby that I felt I needed to write about, “Spidee”. Since Corby could crawl he would try and climb on everything, most the time he would succeed. If he wanted up onto something he would find a way to scale it. This is how he got the name Little Spidee. Spiderman is my favorite Comic book character and I felt it fit Corby perfect. Little did I know how much it would mean in the long run. I still love Spider-man, there are no negative or sad feelings about it. It actually makes me happy to know he will be my son that is always our “Spidee”. 

Day 16 – CREATIVE GRIEF

Day 16 – CREATIVE GRIEF There is such a deep-rooted yearning that we feel when our beloved children die. This yearning hurts so bad and yet it also inspires us to get creative to do something beautiful in memory of our children. Have you done anything in memory of your child? Maybe it is something your created for them. A tattoo or a piece of jewellery or artwork. Did you create a garden? Maybe you created an organization or a charity benefit. Maybe you took up a new practice. A new hobby. Writing, painting, dancing, reading. Whatever it is share your mementos.

I am continuing to think of ways to honor my son on a daily basis. We ran our first half marathon just 7 days after Corby passed to honor him. 

We quickly came up with our racing for Corbyn group that we race different races from triathlon's, half marathons, half centuries, and we continue to add to that list. 

We have moved from the only home that Corby knew and I have tried to make sure that I have kept his memory in our home. His crib is still set up. There are pictures of him all over in our home.

His towel still hangs in his brother's room. We are working on getting our back yard completed and it's taking longer than usual. For me it's mostly because we want to do a "Corby corner" where there will be a tree with a bench around it and a garden. I'm having a difficult time deciding exactly what I want because it doesn't seem perfect and I need it to be perfect. 

This Christmas we will be helping to provide a Christmas for a less fortunate family and we are calling it "Corby's Christmas". He was very giving and we want to continue to honor that about him. 

The one thing that I do that has helped me the most is the "Corby baskets" I give to parents that also lose a child. The biggest part of this basket is it has a journal type book for friends and family to write down thoughts and memories of the child. It then plays as a comfort for the family to have a book full of memories of their child. 

I also have a necklace that I never take off with Corby's name imprinted on it. As well as a ring with three sapphires.

It reminds me of my Corbyn's deep blue eyes and that is why Brock got it for me. 

 I hope to continue to find ways to keep my baby's memory alive and to honor him. I hope that his memory will continue to spread and awareness will be made for SUDC.