Time seems to be rushing by & I am struck everyday by the power of this experience. I find myself thinking of James more often, loving more passionately and thoughtful about how to make sense & balance it all. Ewan will often grab my locket, pulling on it and I find myself hoping James is present to know how my heart swells but aches at the same time.
Early on as a student I studied psychology, I was taught that when trying to help clients cope with challenging emotions, you assist them to condition their responses to stimuli, exposing them to the emotions that are uncomfortable & replacing it with the opposite emotions. The premise being that you can't experience conflicting emotions at the same time, i.e. you can't be afraid & relaxed simultaneously. Made sense at the time but I can confidently challenge this idea now, I live with a conflicted heart everyday that soars with joy & mingles with grief simultaneously, happiness & sadness together. I watch my boys interact & inhale love & gratitude and exhale the heaviness in my heart. I would have never believed this to be possible as a student of ideologies & the human condition, but life cut in & has become the real teacher. Although this sounds like the heaviness wins, it doesn't, it has taken on the the responsibility of protecting James' memory, his legacy, become my motivation that my children will always celebrate each other whether they are here on this physical plain or have grown their wings.
 |
| Jev & Ewan holding hands :) |
I have read other rainbow parents write & heard other babyloss parents say that they love their rainbows more, not more then their other children but in a way that can't really be completely described. Perhaps it comes from having lost, knowing it can all be snatched away, that we realize the grandness of the miracle and try to savour, cherish every moment. Perhaps it is because they hold some of their siblings essence. I know that I feel it, the overpowering strength of this love, one that is not comparable or completely explainable. I have felt guilt over it but mostly embrace it b/c if I dont' & lose even one moment in his life where there are no guarantees & death doesn't discriminate I know I couldn't live with that regret. So I choose to let it flood in.
After publishing this post, I came across a poem written by another baby loss parent about their rainbow, published in the literary online magazine Exhale. Feels like too much of a coincidence, so I'm posting the link here b/c it says things so simply but captures them completely - Bittersweet
After publishing this post, I came across a poem written by another baby loss parent about their rainbow, published in the literary online magazine Exhale. Feels like too much of a coincidence, so I'm posting the link here b/c it says things so simply but captures them completely - Bittersweet
Loving you more & missing you deeply James.
xoxo Mommy
No comments:
Post a Comment