Upon our return from NOLA in June we decided that it would be a great time for my mother-in-law to come visit. This would give her the opportunity to spend time and bond with Alyssa and Cayden while Dalton was away visiting with his mother for the summer. So we packed her up with us and brought her back to Texas for a three week visit. Here are just some of the pictures from her stay:
Towards the end of my mother-in-laws stay with us we received a phone call that once again brought us back to the NOLA area. On the evening of July 14, 2011 I received a phone call from my mother. Alyssa answered the phone and said "Mom, she wants to talk to you. I think she's crying." When I took the phone I heard my mother's voice coming through in sobs and tears. She said to me "I am at your sister's house." followed by some incoherent words that I didn't quite understand. When I asked her to repeat what she'd said she begged me not to make her, said that she couldn't then as I stood in the bedroom of my son's I heard her say "He's dead! Oh my God,Justin's dead! He killed himself!" I fell to my knees, the breath gone from my chest; words gone from my lips; thoughts gone from my mind; and the feeling gone from my body. My mother had called to tell me that my nephew/godson was gone and that he'd taken his own life. Three days later we were headed back to the NOLA area to help my sister and brother-in-law bury their only son.
The remainder of the month of July was extremely difficult. I was still in shock and coming to terms with the death of my nephew and I had two small children at home who were desperately trying to understand what was happening. How do you explain to your 7 and 3 year old that the cousin they just played with three weeks prior is now gone forever and that no one knows why? My husband and I did the best that we could in explaining things to them. We kept no secrets, we were honest and we explained things to them before they happened so as to prepare them for what they would witness during our days in the NOLA area. We made sure to paint the picture of the memorial services in a positive manner so as not to scare them. We also encouraged them to ask questions and express their feelings without fear of reprimand. Death is hard for adults to understand but it is even harder for children.
Perhaps at another time I will document a little further in detail the course of events that transpired between the time that I received that dreadful phone call and the time that we returned to Texas but for the time I will respect that it is still a fresh and open wound for my family. A wound that needs a little more time to heal.
Upon our return to Texas on the 21st of July we knew that we were going to have to come home and get our life back to as normal of a routine as possible. School would be starting in a month and although we were hurting we had to continue on with our lives and a normal schedule for the kids. So the remainder of our summer was spent doing just that: trying to be normal again. We went to the drive-in theatre. We made homemade pizzas. We played at the splash grounds. We rode dirt bikes. We just played and spent time together.
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