I was able to fly to Chicago this weekend for a quick trip to visit my sister Liz and her husband Kavan. They are due to have a baby on May 6th and I wanted to go up and help in any way that I could. We were a bit nervous about what to expect with my emotions but surprisingly all went well and there weren’t too many emotional breakdowns. A lot of people have been great about asking questions and remembering Everett by actually speaking about him; Liz of course was great about it and we talked a lot about Everett and my feelings.

We were able to put some finishing touches on the nursery such as curtains and wall hangings. We did quite a bit of running errands and shopping and returns -all that stuff nobody has energy for in the last month of pregnancy. Hopefully I was able to help in tangible ways. I can’t believe they are going to have a baby in less than a month! Dale and Lindy had a father/daughter weekend full of adventure. From hanging out with dad at work on Friday to basketball parties on Saturday night and church on Sunday. Grandma Z sent a care package with some fun things to do while I was away.

We had our first counseling session on Tuesday. Both of us really liked the therapist and walked away with lots to talk about that was not really related to Everett. ha.

Lindy asked where baby Everett was twice today. Kind of odd when it was so out of the blue. Usually, she’ll ask after seeing his picture or playing in his crib. I told her again that he was heaven with Jesus.

On an odd note. Our angel fish had babies. 2 weeks ago, they laid eggs that hatched, about 30 of them, within 3 days, they were eaten by the other fish, even though the mom and dad fish guarded them with their life. I think it happened during the night. Surprisingly, I cried a few times for the mother fish. I felt HORRIBLE that she lost all 30 of her kids. I know it sounds odd, but I seemed to grieve with her. Anyways, I went to the fish store today to buy a container to hold the babies next time they hatched. When I got home, I noticed the fish had laid eggs again! How fun. A new part of my aquarium hobby -breeding fish. I have no idea what I’m doing but the kind man at the aquarium store walked me through everything and sent me home with Brine Shrimp to feed the babies when they hatch. I am looking forward to saving the 30 fish this time.

Today was a special day. We wanted to thank my doctors and nurses for all of their care during not only our stay at the hospital but also for all of our prenatal care. Seeing them twice a week for 2 months makes you miss them when you DON’T see them.

As part of our Everett Memorial Fund, we donated a children’s table, chairs, and a bunch of Lindy’s favorite books to my OB/GYN office. (No, we didn’t take Lindy’s personal books, we bought more) We stopped by today to deliver the gifts. The whole OB/GYN team came out to greet us and give us hugs.

We also gave them a program from the funeral and picture of Everett. Most doctors have a “wall” of babies. To me, they all look alive, which would probably be appropriate. They took the picture and said they had a special place for these babies. I’m glad. I didn’t want his life to be non-existent to the “wall.”

I walked out of the office really feeling like that was a healing thing that we did. That I felt a little bit of closure. On what? I can’t verbalize, but I’m really glad we did it.

From there, we went to the actual hospital where Everett was born. We purchased a Wax Paraffin Hand dealie for all the nurses there -I’m sure their hands are just beat up by the end of the day. I couldn’t tell if they remembered us or not. I’m sure they see so many people but the one nurse, Pam, seemed to remember us. We also then gave the social worker a bunch of books as well. It included a few books on berevement for children that she could give to families that have similar experiences as us.

Overall, a good day, a day to honor Everett by thanking those around us.

Many more people to thank around us. I have been feverishly writing thank you notes. I got 18 done in the last two days! Only a hundred more to go!! That is a good problem to have.

Special thanks to Muffinman Studios for their work on what I call Everett’s Stationery. My dear friend, Hilary designed the funeral invitation, program, thank you notes, and each book at the doctor’s office has a little sticker that says In Memory of Everett Lee Miles Harris.