As most of you know, Will's first birthday/anniversary was on Monday, February 6th. For about six months we had been thinking about what we wanted to do to honor Will for his first birthday. Jess and I had discussed different options, but I knew I wanted family and pinwheels to be involved. We also knew we wanted family to come in to town to help us celebrate. I also wanted it to be a time of joy, not sadness.
So, we decided to have a get-together at our house in honor of Will the Saturday before his first birthday. About four weeks before the get-together I wanted to call it off. I was having a hard time with Christmas being over with and finding joy that Will wasn't with us. Jess strongly advised me to go ahead and plan it, so I took his advice. At this point I knew exactly what I wanted the get-together to look like, so I slowly got started on it. We also were given advice to make the get-together small due to not knowing how emotional we wold be.
A week later after my, I don't want to do this anymore slump, I found some fun scrapbook paper and got started on making paper pinwheels for people to take home and for decorating Will's grave. Once I got started on making the pinwheels I really got into it and was super excited about the get-together!
Another aspect of the gathering I was excited about was asking guests to donate a blanket, outfit, hat, or booties for Jess and I to donate to the hospital where Will was born.
Quick story - On the day Will was born we had no idea we would be having an emergency c-section that day. We thought I would carry him for 10 to 12 more weeks. So, when I was getting prepped for the c-section (which happened very quickly) I panicked because I didn't have an outfit for Will to wear. I wanted him to have the perfect outfit, blanket, hat, and booties, but I didn't it. When Will was born they of course wrapped him up in hospital blankets and put a hat on him. Then after Will died the nurses put him in an white outfit and wrapped him in a sweet blue blanket. Come to find out a lot of the nurses and volunteers from churches donate or make clothing and blankets for these type of situations. Because we were so blessed by this, we want to donate items every year in Will's honor. We want other families to be blessed and have that burden lifted. I talked to the nurse manager and she is really excited about us doing this! She was such a sweetheart and we are meeting with her next week to drop off the baby items.
So the day came to have our get-together to honor Will. I was calm and excited to see family and my childhood best friend. The day was perfect. Everyone was so gracious to come and participate in everything. It was nice to have family and friends there to help celebrate Will!
After everyone left, we headed out with our family to the cemetery. We took out some flowers and a few pinwheels to decorate his grave. Jess and I were saving a lot of the decorations for Monday. When we were at the cemetery Jess and I reminisced about Will's burial and how we couldn't believe it had been a year. What a year. It has been a year full of sadness, tears, heartache, joy, learning, becoming better parents and spouses, ect.
After heading to the cemetery we headed out to dinner. I really could not have asked for a better day. It was just what I wanted it to be and more. Everything went so smoothly and I was so happy we followed through with it- Thanks Jess! I don't think we will have a get-together every year like we did for his first birthday, but I do know we will continue to honor and remember him all the days of our lives and do something special every year on February 6th.
The pinwheels we asked people to take home to remember Will. We also want it to be a reminder to pray for and to remember those who are dealing with grief.
By the way, I love making pinwheels now! They are so fun!
We also asked everyone to sign and or write a message on a pinwheel. We took the pinwheels to Will's grave on Monday.
This is the donation basket. I forgot to take an after picture of all the donations that were in the basket. Everyone participated and that totally melted my heart. This week I have washed everything and I am getting them packaged up to take to the hospital.
My best friend Brook and I while eating.
My sweet first born! He was such a trooper throughout the day!
