Our lives were forever changed the day we lost Corey. He was an amazing man who loved the Lord and his family with all that he was. The pain of losing him is like no other. Our only comfort comes from knowing we will see him again someday.

I have moved the slideshow played at Corey's service to it's own post page above, titled "Corey's Memorial Service - August 10, 2010"

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Happy Birthday Corey!

     I had really hoped to get on here to get a post published on Corey’s birthday but being on vacation with limited internet access has made that a bit difficult. I drove around town trying to get connected to several wireless networks before finally giving up. So, here is a post I wrote late last night before bed.
     Today was a full day. It was hard which I expected would be the case, but I think overall the day was well spent. I wanted to do some fun things with the girls and try to make the day about celebrating Corey’s life and reminiscing over memories of fun times we had together as a family. As we were pulling away from the camp to leave for the morning, the song playing on the radio was Blessed Be the Name of the Lord which was one of the songs used as part of the slideshow of pictures that was shown at Corey’s memorial service. It wasn’t even 10 a.m. and I was already starting to tear up at the lyrics “You give and take away, you give and take away…but my heart will choose to say, Lord blessed be your name.” The song that came on right after that was Healing Begins. I wrote about the significance of hearing that song in my recent post, Retreat into Heartache. I think I turned off the radio after that one.
     The girls and I drove to a spot we had enjoyed 2 years ago while here on vacation. It was a picnic spot that overlooks the ocean from the Camden Hills state park. Just a little ways off the trail that follows the shoreline is a steep trail that goes down over the bank leading to a rocky area with plenty of tide pools perfect for exploring. Corey and I had discovered it the last time we were here and probably spent a good hour, at least, looking at all kinds of little critters with the girls. We also were able to get some really nice pictures of all of us which I’m going to try to download to add to this post. Being that it was the second time around it wasn’t quite as much fun which was kind of disappointing. I was able to snap a few pictures and we headed back up the bank to have the picnic lunch that I had packed for us. After lunch we continued on the shoreline trail to where a swing set was located. Abigail had remembered enjoying the swings the last time but it was really hot in the midday sun so we didn’t stay too long.
     We headed home for our nap with plans to head back out for dinner in the late afternoon. We always celebrated Corey’s birthday when on vacation at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Dos Amigos. The last picture taken of the four of us was taken on his birthday at this colorful place. It’s the one I have posted on my home page for this blog. Corey and I have always enjoyed eating Mexican food, so for us it was a treat. The girls love Dos Amigos mainly because they have a sandy play area outside and they always get balloons and Wikki Stix (those colorful waxy sticks you can bend all kinds of ways to make different things). On several special days (at the cemetery on the day of Corey’s service, Valentine’s day, and on one other occasion I can’t recall the details of) the girls have released balloons up toward Heaven for their daddy, and so once again we made that part of celebrating him. The girls were each given a balloon at the restaurant and after they finished eating they spent a few minutes writing messages and drawing pictures for daddy on their balloons. We went to the beach after dinner and released the balloons there. Abi was eager to tell anyone who would listen about today being her daddy’s birthday and that her daddy had died. They got to hear all about the special birthday dinner and the balloon release. I think it must have really helped her to be able to talk about it and I’m glad she had the opportunity. 
     And I almost forgot…we bought Corey a present today; a red toy tractor that I plan to leave at his grave. I actually got the idea from my friend Kate who had tried to find a die cast model of the Kioti tractor Corey owned and loved so much. She wasn’t able to find one, however. I tried searching online as well but to no avail. Corey actually has a toy-sized version of his tractor, but I can’t bear to part with it at the thought of someone stealing it from his grave. I know it’s a little ridiculous but he had bought it for the girls a few years ago for Christmas. They never really played with it so he ended up taking it into work and putting it on display on his desk ;) It meant something to him so I just can’t get rid of it; maybe at some point but not yet. I managed to find a toy tractor in a gift shop right here in town. They didn’t have an orange one, so I bought a red one instead since his first tractor was red. The one I bought does, however, look a lot like his Kioti tractor…bucket loader and all.
     So, overall I think we did okay today. I was pretty frustrated about not being able to get onto my blog to do some posting, but I at least managed to get this post done and I was able to check my email at one point in the day. I really appreciated all the notes that many of you sent to me letting me know you were thinking of the girls and I today.  We have 2 more days left to our vacation. It has been a really nice time away for us this year, despite it just being the 3 of us. I'll tell you more about our time away in another post I'm working on. Here are some pics from today. 






2 comments:

  1. Jill, this is very touching. I can't imagine the heartache! One day, there will be no more tears for all of us. May God bless you and your family!

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  2. I don't know that I could do what you do Jill... thinking of you always.

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