February 26-March 6

So, we are almost through with what has become the hardest week of the year.. the day Lindsey came into this world, and the day she left it all at once. Maria (my sister, whom Lindsey was named after) would also be celebrating her birthday during this week- March 2. It's so hard to believe it's been 7 years since we've all seen her face... some days, I can still hear her crazy laugh.. others, it's hard to remember things. It feels like it's been forever ago, and at the same time, it feels like it just happened yesterday. Even more incredible, this coming October 11 will mark the 10 year anniversary of her diagnosis. I can't believe how much time has passed... I remember everything about that day like it just happened, but it was so long ago.

Lindsey would have turned 24 this year.. she was barely seventeen the last time I saw her. Maria was 16 when I saw her last, and would be 43. It's crazy how much time can pass before you realize it.

You sometimes don’t think about how important a person is within your family until they’re gone. Then it becomes painfully obvious that something (someone) is missing.. this shook our family core deeply, and some days it almost feels as if we are a rickety old building sitting on top of an active fault line… just waiting for that last blow to take us down. But, we all know that we can’t let that happen, so we try as hard as we can to get through.. seven years or seven days- it never goes away completely. The pain never leaves, it just gets more tolerable. Some days are worse than others, but we get through them.


The events of this last month have really been hard- young people dying in horrible ways… it hits you all over again that things can change in an instant.

I missed out on the annual birthday "celebration" of letting balloons go at the cemetery.. it's become a tradition, where everyone writes a special message on a balloon and we send them up. I'll be visiting this coming Sunday, so hopefully we will get the chance to let some more balloons go that day.

On a happier note, my niece Stormy is currently in labor, waiting to give birth to her first daughter… hopefully by this time tomorrow, we will have a new baby girl to celebrate! I'm grateful that for once, we will have something to look forward to during this week.

Happy Birthday Lindsey and Maria... we miss and love you...

~Marlo