That's my boy...

 I was at Sam’s Park the other night and it was freezing. Cold, I mean 57 degrees out and windy as all hell; that’s probably why the 57 degrees felt so cold. I know those of you from the Midwest are thinking 57 degrees is warm. This is not true when you have just gotten out of a mid October week that was reaching temperatures of 80+. That’s right, we went from 85 to 57 in about a day’s time. Got to love Midwest weather.

So, anyways, I was at Sam’s Park, it was about 6:00 and the sun was setting. Michalina was playing around, as usual, while I had my time with Sam. All of a sudden she says, “Mommy, look it’s a butterfly!” I thought to my self “yea, right. Not in this weather-”

Well low and behold there she was, clinging to a bush right across from Sam’s wall. She stayed there the whole time we were there. She let me take a million pictures and even opened her wings twice. Other than that, she just hung on for dear life in the cold wind. I don’t know why she was there at that particular moment or night. But she gave me the reminder that my son is okay.

Thank you Sam for my little message. I love you baby boy.

100 Steps...on Vacation. (Illuminate Week 3)

This week our assignment fell while I was on vacation. This vacation was a much needed getaway from the reality of life at home without Sam. My family and I drove down to Destin, Florida from McHenry, IL; about a 16 hour drive. We spent the week in paradise. While the vacation was well deserved it felt so wrong. You see, we were not planning on taking a vacation for a very long time. Having a newborn and a three year old really adds to the daily expenses. So, we thought once Sam was a bit older and a little easier to travel with we would take a family vacation. As you all know that was not the case. Our Destin vacation felt wring because we were only in a beautiful place because Sam was not with us. There were times that I actually felt guilty being there as a result of his departure. I found myself imagining what vacation would have been like with an infant in my arms; and there were plenty around to remind me of what I didn't have. Although this was a bitter sweet vacation, I did try to incorporate Sam into our vacation as much as possible. We even took a family picture. I will have to post that in a separate post.

However, as the assignment goes...I was able to do the 100 steps from our hotel room door, highway road to a secluded beach, and simply from one point on the beach to another.