Remembering

Today is the second anniversary of Brian's death. I opened my closet this morning, intended on wearing black in his memory, but I couldn't find a single black stitch of clothing for this season's weather. I thought of my friend, Kim, who is still wearing black three months after her husband's sudden and tragic death, and considered calling her, asking to borrow something to wear for the day. But then I realized Brian wouldn't want me to wear black. He was full of life and laughter and if anything, I should be wearing a color that represented him, and black was far from it. So I didn't wear black today. But I thought of him all day long, driving the boys to school, running errands, working a church, sitting on the soccer fields. He is everywhere but sadly, nowhere we want him to be. He would have been 49 years old, still loving life, still being the Brian we all knew. I still miss him and probably always will.

Kim's pain is still raw and I can still see it in the eyes of her oldest son, who is in Joey's class at school. They are getting through it, but their hearts are still delicate, that I can see. On Saturday, there will be a bike ride fundraiser in his honor and it seems so ironic to me, because it is also our town's annual Safety Day, which Moose Hill School PTA hosts (I will be stepping down from my post as PTA President tomorrow night, passing the torch to another capable parent until I return next year with Jeffrey attending kindergarten), and where I have been making sure my responsibilities in making it the success that it has become are taken care of. It gets bigger and better every year, so much so that this year we have had to move the location from Moose Hill School to one of the elementary schools.

There are a number of events taking place, primarily the car seat safety checks. 90% of all children's car seats are improperly installed, incredible as that may seem. Certified technicians inspect the car seats and will even replace them if necessary. There will also be vehicles from the fire and police departments, the Wal-Mart "Watch for Blindspots" tractor trailer, a Child ID program, a "Smoke House" trailer, medical screenings, and much more. Last year, as she will be again this year, was a representative for the Kyle Davis Miller Foundation.
Kyle David Miller Foundation.

Kim's husband, on his 31st birthday, was killed in a construction accident. He was run over by a Mack truck that was backing up, whose driver was distracted and talking to the passenger. It was a tragic and unfortunate accident and he left four children, a wife, parents, and other family behind. And Saturday is Londonderry Family Safety Day.

A new student counselor at the boys' school lost her 2 month old baby to SIDS on September 3. My neighbor lost her dad to cancer last month. Am I noticing more deaths around me or is this what happens when you get older? No matter who it is or what the season, wounds that have healed are reopened with the death of the next known person, whether he's 47 or 31 or 83 or 2 months old.

Well. I didn't mean to make this such a somber post, especially since I haven't posted in a while. But they all deserve time to be remembered, and their families deserve a prayer.