This one is of me after I removed the cover from the plaque. You can almost see the plaque in this one.
The scouts that were present during the dedication, and helped with the planting.
I do believe John would be pleased with the dedication. He loved nature and scouting. The tree is behind the scout building at our local park. There are 4 ball fields, a public swimming pool, community buildings that the people of our fine community can reserve and use for different activities. A 1 mile walking track is also there, and along the track are benches to sit on and also a pond to relax at. Of course, though we are a small town here, we still have juveniles that like to try to trash some of these things, but with the boy scouts and girl scouts and stuff like that, the place stays real nice. We are all blessed to have a place to go for exercise and fun, and except for a small fee to swim (which helps with the upkeep of the pool and fees for a life guard) it is free for all of us.
The family is doing well, and my husband is dealing better now than he had been in the past. I am proud of him. He went to the dedication with me, as did my mom and dad. He also started going through some of the toys of John's and was able to give them to a friend and his wife, they have been approved as foster parents and now they have the beginnings of toys for when they have foster children in their home. They are great people and I am proud to know them as my friends. John may not be here in body, but I know he is in spirit, and in our hearts, and I think my husband is starting to realize this. John wouldn't want his stuff just sitting here collecting dust, he would want another child to benefit from them and play with them.
B.J. is still dealing in her own way. She doesn't like going to the memorial type stuff for John, or even the cemetery since his burial. But she said that she will always have him in her heart and that she will remember him by when she grows up and decided to have a child, if it is a boy she plans on naming it after her brother, at least the first name. I think she is dealing with his death, just in her own way.
Well, enough babbling for now. May God bless and Keep you all!
Until next time,
Judy
1 comment:
Hello Judy,
the tree dedication is wonderful and very special. I enjoyed the pictures.
We also did a similar thing for my brother who had FA and passed away a month after his transplant. We planted a "Shannon Tree" in the Shannon Reserve here. It got stolen only a couple of weeks later...but then we bought another one. They are fern trees and called it the "Shannon Tree" and it is planted at my old house in the front yard and is SO big now.....we are renting that place now so no one can remove that tree. It is SO special and I like to drive past it and look at it. I don't ever want to sell the house because it is there...but who knows whether we will ever need to....I hope not.
I just wanted to encourage you about B.J. After my brother died and we had the funeral I could not handle going to any memorials for Shannon with family members. I became overwhelmed and upset and distressed and disliked being there. I was much better if I went by myself when no one knew and when no family members were watching. I found it really hard. If B.J feels the same way....I would not be surprised. Even now I am a private greiver. I dislike being with the family and I don't like being hugged and cried on....I feel strange and distressed. This may be linked to the fact that I have FA as well. I don't know. However, when I get the chance to honour Shannon in my own way and in privacy the tears flow and I kneel down and let it all out...but in privacy....it is interesting. I just wanted to share that with you. It is a personal thing but I felt like I wanted to share and I hope it doesn't discourage you but encourages you instead. I love you heaps.
Love Charisse
Post a Comment