One story struck a chord with me.
This lady lost her 1 year old to a sudden and terminal seizure that happened out of the blue while baby was happily crawling along the sitting room floor. They rushed their child to hospital by ambulance but nothing could be done. Bewildered and in a daze they got through the next days as the wake and funeral happened. A few days after the baby was laid to rest and the older siblings went back to the creche/school, the husband suddenly upped and left. A few hours later came a call. Unable to cope with that raw pain; that loss; he had taken his own life. She suddenly had to not only come to terms with the loss of her child but also her husband, whom she loved...the father of her other two children.
This made me realise just how lucky we are, Pat and I, to have each other; to have been able to go through this with each other; to be able to put up with and support each other through good and bad days.
This is in no way suggesting this poor man wasn't strong, was weak or failed in any way .... At that time, he simply could not cope; the pain he felt was too much and he could not see it lessen. I am sure he loved his wife and other children dearly...The pain he felt that day, that moment, just superseded those other feelings.
I am grateful that we both have been able to draw the strength we needed to not have gone to that dark a place.
I am grateful that Pat is by my side; ever loving, ever slagging....just being him....The person I fell in love with.
As we put on our dancing shoes to attend another special family wedding, I wanted to give him something special to remember both his boys by....
