Boo spent the night with some little friends of hers. They're a couple of years younger than she is, but they get along wonderfully. It was a slumber party of sorts. Lots of girls there. I hung around with my friend (the mom) as the other kids mom's came and went. I was introduced to all the moms and we laughed and had our small talk stuff.
But then I met one of the other mothers. My friend hesitantly told us we had something in common. We both said "oh" at the same time. We knew without saying a word. I think both our faces changed in an instant. We've both lost a child. I told her it's a club neither of us ever wanted to be in. We both talked of experiences 'taking us back' to when it happened for us. For me it was the death of a little girl we know recently. For her it was something else. But it took us back. Then and now. We both fanned our eyes to dry the tears. And we both moved on to other topics and had a nice time meeting each other.
'We' are out there walking among you. The ones who've lost a child. We look just like you. We smile. We laugh. We buy groceries. We do everything you do. But sometimes, out of nowhere, something can prick our hearts and take us back to a place that is only in most people's worst nightmares. And yet we lived it. And we relive it again a little bit. And then we move on.
Again.
1 comment:
I appreciate the last paragraph. It is the one thing those who haven't walked in our shoes can't ever grasp. They think they could not go on living if they lost a child. So when confronted by a grieving mom at a playdate or grocery store who is going continuing to live life they just don't know what to make of it. How could you be laughing, be shopping? Life goes on - even when it doesn't seem right that it does.
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