A Birthday in Heaven

THREE YEARS.

This sweet face would be three years old today. He would be running, he would be laughing, he would be talking. He would be doing so much at three years old. He would be wrestling with his brothers, he would be snuggling with his sissy, he would still be fighting for his life.

Over the past three years, I have found a lot of peace. Things are still difficult and the past few weeks (and those to come) have been filled with ups and downs. But, I have come to realize that our Luke is at peace and that we, too, need to be at peace. The pain and suffering that he would have most likely faced for much of his life was replaced with a miracle: the miracle of life in heaven.

Life in heaven. What is that like? I know that we are taught that heaven is paradise. And I believe that. But I often wonder what it is like. Do we walk in heaven? Do we fly in heaven? Do we recognize & reconnect with those who we loved & knew here on earth? Will Luke know me? Will he remember me? All of these questions are constantly on my mind.

So I have a proposition for each of you: please take the time to respond to this post with your idea of what heaven is like. What things do you believe we will see, feel, and experience in heaven? I know that heaven is more amazing than anything that we could ever imagine, but the human in me wants to know concrete details. As Luke celebrates his third birthday in heaven, I would love to hear your beliefs on what it is like to live with God in heaven. Thank you, in advance, for your thoughts. God bless you all!

A little Belated...

Our little baby turned TWO last month! I wanted to post some pics of his big day. He is growing up and is so much fun. We are so happy that James is a part of our family. Each morning, he greets us with a smile and lots of hugs. He is a joy and we are so thankful for him. Here are some pics:


Saturday will be bittersweet as we celebrate Luke's life on his third birthday. I have been pretty anxious lately and I know a lot of that anxiety has to do with his birthday. Unfortunately we cannot be in Houston to visit his site, but my parents, Nana, and some very thoughtful friends will be there to celebrate. We have some plans with the kids--they are very excited to go to Incredible Pizza for lunch! We will have a cake and release balloons. I will post on Saturday...with a special question for each of YOU!!

Please continue to pray for my amazing nephew Greg. His battle with Hodgkin's Lymphoma is halfway over and he has proved to be quite the warrior. I know that my sister Rita, brother-in-law Mike, niece Clare, and Greg would love any comments or words of encouragement. The site is: www.caringbridge.org/visit/gregpurvis. Thanks in advance for your support for the family.

May God bless you all during this Lenten season!

Healing

Healing.

I've been thinking about this word a lot lately. Not the physical kind of healing, but the emotional kind of healing. The past few weeks I've had quite a few discussions about healing with Tommy, with my family, with my friends.

I've wondered: have I healed adequately enough since losing Luke? I'm not sure...is there a right answer to that question? No.

The truth is, as his 3rd birthday approaches, I fear that others think that I should be healed. That I should remember him, but not get upset when I think about him. That line of thinking makes no sense to me. How can I remember him without getting sad? Should I just pretend that "it's all good" and that my heart doesn't sink each time I see his picture or every time I hear his name?

It finally hit me the other night: he is my child and I should talk about him. I was with some very sweet friends and we were talking about our children. I always have a difficult time with this: do I talk about Emily, Matthew, and James but ignore Luke's life? Should I just keep quiet and not talk about any of them? I mean, why can't I include him when I talk about our other miracles? They each (all four) have their own stories, their own personalities, their own lives. Luckily, these kind ladies listened as I shared about all of our babies.

When I talk about Emily, I mention her keen fashion sense, her willingness to help. When I talk about Matthew, I include his Godliness, his sweet nature. And James? I always tell people about his laid back nature and how he makes us all laugh.

So what about Luke? Can't I tell people about how he fought? How he made sure he would get out of that hospital quickly so that he could come home with us? How he waited until Tommy got home from his trip before he went to heaven? He was sick that entire week. I am confident that he knew he was dying. But he waited, he suffered that entire week so that he could spend his last few moments with his Daddy. I will never let anyone take that away from his legacy. I want to share his eyes with others. I want to share his hair. I want to share his spirit. But then I worry--will I be a Debby Downer? Will talking about him cause others to shy away from conversations with me? Probably. But if he's my child, why can't I talk about him, too? It's such a fine line.

When I write posts about Luke, I understand that people may think that I haven't healed. But I think that writing about him helps me to heal. I am not the same Bernie that I used to be, but I *think* that I am a better Bernie (although at times, the new Bernie makes me mad).

Truth be told, I am not sure how to act. I have no idea. I hope that I am healing, but maybe I'm not. I guess I may never feel healed--part of my heart was torn from my chest on April 18, 2008. How do you get that back? How can I get that back?

Please remember all of the heart warriors, both angels and here on earth during February. It is National Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Month and we need all the support and awareness that we can get! Let's heal these kids both in the physical and emotional sense. God bless you all!

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!