Christmas with Luke

We had an amazing Christmas with Nana again this year. The kids all got things that they wanted: an American Girl Doll for Em, DS games for Matt, Little People for James, among other things. I will post pictures on another day (although lately, "another day" means 4 weeks from now).

I wanted this post to be about our Luke and his Christmas. You see, this was a very different Christmas for Luke. Nana was here with us, Gramma and Grampa have moved to Georgia, and of course we are not able to be with him on Christmas Day. One of the most difficult parts about not having Luke with us is that we are not able to visit his site since it is in Houston. I know, I know. "But Bernie, he is not there." I know that in the spiritual sense, Luke is not in that ground. BUT, it is the place where Tommy and I said our last goodbyes to him. It is a tangible place for us to see him.

OK, I'm getting off topic (which I do a lot, especially if you have ever talked to me--it takes me like 30 minutes to tell a 5 minute story and don't even ask me to repeat a joke I have heard). What I wanted to share with you is a kind act that a special friend did for me at Christmastime.

Hilary and I were in MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) together for a few years when we lived in Texas. I had the pleasure of working with Hilary on the leadership team and am so glad that I got the chance to know her. Hilary has gone to visit Luke before, bringing her oldest (Ty) and sharing Luke with him. A few weeks before Christmas, Hilary wrote me and asked if she could go visit Luke for me and Tommy. She said that she didn't want us to feel like he was alone at Christmas and that if it was something that would help us, she'd like to do it. She also asked if I would like to write a letter to him and that she would read it to him. WOW! Her note left me in tears and I couldn't wait to write him a letter.

So, I wrote the letter (through tears) and Hilary read it to our sweet boy. She and Ty brought Luke a tree, with special decorations made by Ty. The picture of his site is at the top of this post. You can see the tree from Hilary and her family, the tree that sweet Nana brought by before her trip to Memphis, as well as the silver Hot Wheels car that Gramma and Gramma brought him before they moved.

I thought you all might want to see the letter I wrote. I'm not even sure that Tommy has read it yet, but I want everyone to know how much we love that little soul and how much we miss him. Luke's 3rd birthday is fast approaching and I find myself getting in a bit of a funk. I am feeling quite anxious and overwhelmed. I fear that people are forgetting him and that others think that I should be over it. You never get over losing a child. It just doesn't happen. The "what-ifs" are pretty rough and they come at you without any warning.

There are many great things happening here: James will be TWO one month from today, Emily is getting an award for an essay she wrote, and Matthew will start baseball soon. Tommy is really enjoying his job and I have some really great volunteer opportunities with Le Bonheur. My nephew Greg is doing AWESOME with his chemo treatments and has far surpassed our greatest expectations. Please visit his site at www.caringbridge.org/visit/gregpurvis and feel free to leave him a message. Like I have said before, he is a great kid and he is going to kick Hodgkin's BUTT! Rita, Mike, and Clare have been an amazing support system as well as Gramma and Grampa (Gramma is a laundry maniac so I'm sure it lets Rita relax a lot more having them there).

Thank you for sharing in our story. Your thoughts and prayers for our family have gotten us through a lot of difficult times. God bless you all.

Here's the letter to Luke:


December 22, 2010

My Baby Boy,

Sweet Luke. My sweet, strong boy. I miss you so much. You have no idea the hole in my heart without you here with us. Your brothers and sister make me and Daddy so happy, but we will always miss our wittle bubba.

Christmas is one of the most difficult times of the year for me since we lost you. I love watching Em, Matt, and James open their gifts, but I can't help but imagine what it would be like with you here, too. Would we be in the hospital, waiting for your Fontan or worse yet, a transplant? Would you be growing up big and strong? Would you be whipping HLHS in the bootie? Would you and James wrestle all of the time?

WOW...you are so much better off in heaven. You don't hurt, and you are beyond happy. I do have a special favor to ask of you: will you please ask God to heal your cousin Greg? He is such a good boy and he loves you so much. He thinks about you a lot. He is scared right now, so I would like to ask you to give him special angel hugs and let him know that he will be ok.

I wish that I could come see you today, I wish that I was at your site, decorating a special tree for you. I pray that you know how much Mommy and Daddy love you and that you know that we would give anything to have you with us.

Please thank Miss Hilary for coming to visit you for me. She has come before and she is a true friend. I'm sure she would love it if you send a birdie friend her way while she is at your site.

Thank you for being our son, Luke. I hope you are amazed at what your legacy has become. Your life has helped so many people: in their faith, in the relationships, and through Luke's Tree. Who would have ever imagined that our tiny little baby would make such an impact on people's lives? Following in great footsteps, I guess, especially at Christmastime.

I know that you are not in your site, but that you are all around us. Still, I can't help but fear that you are cold and alone. I would love it if you could give us a sign that you are near...maybe on Christmas Day? :)

We love you very much and we are sure that you are celebrating Jesus' birth in style up in heaven!

Love you so much baby boy,
Mommy
...and Daddy, Sissy, Bubba, and Bubby

Luke's Tree 2010--in pictures!

We we able to bring these boxes to the families who were in the CVICU on Christmas. They contained blankets, toys, gift cards, etc.

There were 6 patients in the CVICU on Christmas who received the boxes

The Tree

My girls helping organize

More of my girls...

Even more of my girls...they ROCK!

Yup, all those bags are filled with toys for good girls and boys!

Toys, and bikes, and kitchens galore!

Yummy goodies for the families

This is what happens when you give the kid a cake pop!

Emily helped us pass out the wrapping supplies

...and he was a happy boy the whole time

Gramma and Grampa helped us so much...wrapping parent gifts, organizing the gifts, doing gift inventories, picking up & dropping off the U-Haul trailer (yes, we had so many gifts that we needed a trailer to bring them all to Le Bonheur).

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO GRAMMA AND GRAMPA!

With Whitney and Linda--they are awesome staff at Le Bonheur!

ALL GONE!

We would like to thank you all for your support this year. Last year was awesome, but this year was unbelievable! We received some very nice notes and comments from a few of our families and I want you all to know how much they appreciate your help. We are so blessed to be part of such a special project.

Luke's Tree had the opportunity to be featured in not one, but TWO newspaper articles. Here are the links:

www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/dec/19/healing-hearts-one-gift-at-a-02/

www.memphisdailynews.com/editorial/Article.aspx?id=54541

We are very thankful for the awesome reporters who shared our special project with the people of Memphis.

We are also thankful for the amazing families who we have met on this journey. These families are facing so much uncertainty, but they face each day with a smile and with optimism. Unfortunately, Luke's Tree lost one of its own on New Years Eve. It was heartwreching to hear of this sweet baby's passing, but Tommy and I feel so blessed that we were able to meet his mom and dad (and we even got to see the baby when we brought the gift boxes to the families in the CVICU at Christmas). I was also very lucky to have attended this sweet soul's funeral yesterday. I wish every child could experience the love that this little boy received from his parents and that love was so evident yesterday.

Thank you, also, to the staff at Le Bonheur. Many on the staff adopted families and we would not have been able to do any of this without Le Bonheur's help. I love being a part of the Le Bonheur Family!

God bless you all and have a wonderful week!

HUGE Prayer Request

* FYI, we had a great year for Luke's Tree and I will update later along with pictures, but this update is extremely important *

Good evening everyone. My sister Rita and her family received some very heart wrenching news about my nephew Greg yesterday. They were told that Greg has lymphoma. They are not yet sure which type of lymphoma, but they are doing a biopsy on Monday. We are praying that Greg has Hodgkin's Lymphoma as it is more easily treated. Please help us pray that this is the case.

You can see the CaringBridge site that they have set up at: www.caringbridge.org/visit/gregpurvis

To say that this has devastated Rita, Mike, Greg, and Clare would be an understatement. One day, he is totally fine and the next, he has cancer. It sucks. It sucks. It sucks.

Greg is a wonderful 13 year old. He plays football and lacrosse. He is smart, kind, awesome with little kids, and is quite handsome. Greg is strong and he will get through this.

I am having a difficult time dealing with the fact that another one of the 16 grandchildren is sick. We have had 2 heart defects, 1 omphalocele (with Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome), arthritis, and now cancer. Cancer. The "C" word. It's not supposed to happen to my sweet nephew. The nephew who I have seen grow up into an amazing young man. One who treats adults with respect and who treats others with compassion. I am not biased. People have always told Rita what a sweet young man Greg is. And did I mention what a handsome boy he is? :)

Thank you, in advance, for your thoughts and prayers. Please feel free to leave Greg, Rita, Mike, and Clare a message on their site. I know how much they would appreciate any and all kind words.

God bless,

Bernie

My Love

Happy Anniversary to my love. Ten years have gone by and I am still so in love with you. I love your dimples, your smile. I love your strength, your stability. I love your laugh, your cry. I love the way you are with the kids. I love the way you are with me. I love you.

I wanted to share a few memories with you. Some reading this may "get" these memories, and some may be only for you and me. Either way, they remind me of you and they remind me of us:

* When we met at Outback Pub in May 1999 through Rich and Jacque. I thought you were a bit smug and you had no interest in me whatsoever. :) Little did I know that I had just met "the one".
* Golfing. Well, you golfing and me getting the cart stuck in the mud.
* Fruity drinks and "Thirty Something"--probably the two reasons we ever went out in the first place.
* Our first date. Again with Rich and Jacque--seriously, how are they always involved? (just kidding, love you Rich and Jacque).
* After our first date, staying out so late that my parents almost called the police because they didn't know where I was (and thank you to my father for always reminding us of that). :)
* Knowing that night that I had found my "one".
* Dating. You traveling, me student teaching. Going crazy until we could see each other over the weekends.
* Our engagement-3 1/2 months after we started dating. When you know, you know.
* Planning, planning, planning for a Christmas wedding.
* Losing your dad. I saw your true strength for the first time.
* The most beautifully perfect wedding ever with the most handsomely perfect man.
* Italy. Seriously, how lucky am I? Rome, Siena, and Amalfi. Showing me your heritage. Midnight Mass at St. Peter's. Amazing.
* Our first home. You flooding the downstairs on the day we closed. Priceless (although not too funny at the time).
* Labor with Emily. I really tried to be nice, but it really did hurt. That was one crazy night!
* Driving home from the hospital with Emily. All she did was cry. I remember talking to you about how we hoped that she wouldn't be this way all the time.
* Learning how to be parents. Emily made it pretty easy since she was an easy baby.
* Matthew. Do I need to say more? What a ride he has made things! I *wish* I could remember every Matthewism.
* Becoming pregnant with our third. Finding out that our last child would be another little girl, Ava "Caroline". Remembering that I never believed that "he" was a "she". Finding out that there were indeed testicles on the child and determining a name within thirty minutes. You came up with the perfect name: Luke Thomas.
* The day our innocence was gone. You know the day.
* The day our innocent was gone. Again, you know the day.
* Our move to Memphis, our time to grow up.
* Baby #4, "Cuatro". I'm not sure we had any what we were getting into with this one!
* Omphalocele: there's nothing like a little intestine hanging out of your child's tummy. Sweet Baby James bringing more joy into our lives.
* New normal. Still learning how to parent.
* Snuggles.

These are just a few of our many memories. And to tell you the truth, I am pretty tired, so the memories are probably all jumbled. I just want you to know that I cherish you. You are my best friend and the person who I trust with my everything. Thank you for loving me, for your patience when I am crazy, for being an incredible dad. Thank you for getting down on one knee and asking me to be your wife. Thank you and I love you!

To everyone else: God bless!

Luke's Tree 2010 is HERE!

Hi everyone,

I have been meaning to write, but have been so busy!!!! Below are some pictures from Emily's 8th birthday party and Halloween. They are cute as we had a pink pirate, a ninja warrior, and a sock monkey (Tommy's idea). I wish we had better pictures, but the kids were too excited to pose for me.

One thing I want to let you all know about is LUKE'S TREE! Yup, we are in our second year and it is going to be a GREAT one. This year, we have 16 FAMILIES--all with amazing and miraculous stories. It has been a blessing to hear each story and I am so thankful that they will have one less thing to worry about this year.

We also have a new website this year: http://www.lukestree.org/. My sister Katie has done a great job helping us out with the site (I am not internet savvy at all and she put it all together for us). On the front page of the website, there are two quilts up for bid: one sewn by my mother and one sewn by my friend (whose nephew passed away from HLHS). You can contact me at bernie@lukestree.org if you would like to bid on the quilts. If you are interested in helping to adopt a family, we still have one left. If you cannot adopt a family but still want to help, you can send individual items or gift cards, too. Just e-mail me and I can get you the information that you need. Of course, the biggest thing that we need is prayer. We are praying that this year will be even more successful than last year and we are pretty positive that this will happen!

OK, I need to go now as we are settling in at home after a fun Thanksgiving with Gramma, Grampa, Aunt Rita, Aunt Brigid, Uncle Fern, and our cousins. We are so thankful for the support from family, friends, and strangers. God bless you all!

Halloween in Pictures and Emily's Party

Nostalgia

*Just an FYI, I have Halloween pics to share as well as news on Luke's Tree 2010. I will share those tomorrow or Friday...this is a post that I felt compelled to write at this moment.*

Nostalgia is a funny thing...when you are feeling nostalgic, many emotions can come about. You can feel happy, sad, angry, or scared. You can feel anxious, relieved, or just plain exhausted. While feeling nostalgic this evening, I felt all of those emotions within a ten minute period.

You see, some absolutely amazing things have been happening with Luke's Tree this year: we have 16 families, donations have already begun to pour in, entire families are adopted before we even have the wishes. When I say that I am humbled by the generosity of others, it is an understatement. I spoke about Luke's Tree at my Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) meeting today. I promised them I wouldn't cry, which turned out to be a lie. The hugs and support that I received from my friends was unbelievable and I was so touched by their kindness.

With all of the joy that today brought, I figured that I would look into the "box". You angel moms know what I mean when I talk about the "box". Actually, if you are like me, you probably have more than one "box", but this is the one that holds some pretty special things. Included in tonight's "box" were items that people had given me after Luke was born, such as the rosary from Mo that she brought back from Venice, the special rosary given to Luke by my brother, books from friends, etc. I was ok while looking through these items, thinking of the care and concern given to us during Luke's life and shortly after his death. It wasn't until, after shuffling through some papers, I found a very special item: the keepsake certificate that the hospital gave us right after Luke was born and before his diagnosis. This certificate has his little footprints stamped on it. If you have been reading this blog for a while, then you know that we do not have imprints of Luke's hands and feet nor do we have a lock of his hair. This is one of the things that continues to tear at my heart--we have nothing concrete from our baby boy. Well, as I touched his footprints, I looked at my finger and saw the ink on it. I know that it sounds dumb and crazy, but I lost it at that moment. I was actually touching something concrete. The ink that was used to make prints of my baby boy's tiny toes was still wet! After two and a half years, it is still wet. So nostalgia caused me to seek out the "box", but it was the wet footprint that caused me to remember what a miracle he truly was.

I really should get to bed now as it is 1:30 am. I just felt the need to share this story with you because it really affected me. Please be sure to check out our new website for Luke's Tree at www.lukestree.org. We are praying for another amazing year and would appreciate any prayers. If you would like to donate, you can e-mail me at bernie@lukestree.org. There are a lot of heart babies who are coming into the world lately, please help us as we pray for them. God bless you all!