Angel Update

We had a very nice Angel Day; thank you for all the well wishes; on the blog, in person/phone and on Facebook. My eye surgery went well, and was a great distraction; my first thought on Friday morning was about my eyes-"can I see?" and then I remembered the day. When I went in to Lily to get her up I asked her what day it was and she wasn't sure. I told her it was Angel Day and asked her if she knew what it meant. She said, "It means I get to see Emily today!" I'm not sure if she saw her, but I do know that Emily was close that day.

Later in the afternoon, after a busy morning and early afternoon, we looked at our photograph albums of Emily. Lily kept wanting to read the "Angel Book." I don't have an angel book, but I do have Robby's poem as a book with pictures, so I told her we would read it when Robby got home. (We were already planning on doing that) She listened to the whole thing.

Before Robby got home, after we'd looked at pictures, Lily disappeared and came out of her room wearing a purple shirt, purple tutu, and purple wings; an outfit I had never showed her before, and said, "Look Mom! I'm an angel like Emily!"

Someone drop off a little angel pin and flowers, which was very sweet.

I was amazed at the difference just calling the day "Angel Day" made. I think it helped for two reasons. The first, is that it made it celebrating the beginning of something, rather than the end of something, though of course we are mourning that she's not here. But it made me think that it's the beginning of next mission, and that's a nice thought. I think the other reason it made it a bit easier, is that it made it easier for other people to express their well wishes. Asking how someone is doing on the anniversary of when their loved one died can be a little uncomfortable, because you don't want to make them feel bad. At least that's been how I've felt. So it was nice that people could ask me how our Angel Day was, and I knew what they were asking. I'm thankful for my little Emily, and that others remember her, too.