Entry 57: 1 year + 6 months

It has been a year and half. Such a long time. The more time that passes the farther away Brian feels. Although we still talk about him daily, he seems so far.

So what is grief like now?

There was one late night last week when I just missed him so I decided to look back at pictures. I went through his Instagram. I knew he always bragged about Harper on there but I didn't realize how much he also gave me love. So that night I had a real good cry. I am so thankful for social media and the reminders of his love and words.

Sitting in church today I almost cried again. Music gets me and I just miss him.

Grief is weird because I don't cry as long or as often but I still miss him like crazy. The cries feel great but also remind me just what I am missing. I know so many other people think about him all the time too and that fills my heart. Harper talks about him constantly with her own very specific memories. She also cries for him but mostly only when she is already crying for being in trouble. (Manipulative like her Daddy!)

Here's what I miss:

• His physical presence. His tough. His hugs. His spot on the couch.
• His spontaneous ridiculousness whether it be Facebook poems/hacks or just wild inappropriateness at any given time.
• Harper having her Daddy and sharing the amazingness of what we create together with him.
• Filling him in on the daily details of life that no one else really cares about.

Here's what I am thankful for:

• Our lives are INCREDIBLY blessed. We've been so busy this summer making memories,
  
  having fun, going on trips, and making all of our own decisions.
• My people! I love the people in my life and am so thankful for all they give to us.
• That my mom and dad live here! It's been amazing!
• I've said this a million times, but I am thankful that I have a love so good that it's so hard to be without it.
• Our story, Brian's story still impacts people. Someone recently reached out and shared that because of my transparency they are able to help someone going through a tough situation.  It makes me feel good to know there is still purpose. I mean I have learned SO much but I love that it still reaches others. Here's a little bit of what she texted, "and even though I kept up with your journey from afar, I feel like somehow God used your story to help me love on her and support her."  She went on to say, "So I wanted to share and remind you that your story has such a ripple effect!!!! Sending you love today." 

How amazing is that? How can I feel too sad when this is what is still happening a year and a half later?

Here are things I wonder:

• How can I make sure I never forget all the tiny little details of Brian?
• What does he see and know now?
• What does our future life look like?
• What is going on in the NFL (he always told me all the things)?
• What would he make fun of me most for right now?

Love you all! 

Entry 56: Donuts with Dad

So every time I use the word my husband with people who don't know me or my story, I feel like I need to follow it with but he died. It's silly and I don't know why it's a thing but after working camp all week with new students and new interns, I found myself talking about Brian a lot but felt weird not giving them the whole story. This is just a random widow thought.

Anyways every though last year was our first Father's Day without Brian, we were at his family reunion surrounded by so many that there wasn't a big impact. Harper changed schools this fall, and this May there was a Muffins with Mom event. These events are so cute and so sweet and short and involve the children making a prize for you.   It made me realize there was going to be a potential for a Dad's event.  Harper's teachers have been incredible. They don't balk with she goes into a conversation about death after a class caterpillar died. They don't hesitate to have hard conversations with me regarding grief if necessary. And when I was about to try to broach the subject of Father's Day with her teacher, she said, Harper still has a Dad and we will make stuff for him and celebrate him. How perfect and wonderful was that answer. She does still have a dad but not one that could physically be present for Donuts with Dad. Now I may have thought in the younger ages it wouldn't matter as much to not have a representative at such an event but then you realize that peer pressure starts YOUNG! Harper needs to pack a certain stuffed animal because so and so friend brought hers to school the day before. Another mom told me they had to buy a thermos and pack soup because Harper has a thermos and soup. So I figured sending Bampy would be a great solution. Behind the scenes the boys were already making plans of their own to come be with Harper.

Two years ago we found out Brian had cancer back on the brain. It was devastating. We also found out the typical survival rate for someone with his stage of cancer. We both cried sitting in the recliners waiting to meet with more doctors. If we matched the statistic, Harper would be 5 years old. It was unfathomable. It was gut-wrenching. It was a super big low in our entire cancer rollercoaster.  As we processed the information we dealt with it the way we dealt with everything. With the hope that we were better than any statistic and that our case would be different. Around this time too, Brian met individually with his guy friends. His biggest fear was leaving Harper and me. I don't know the details of these conversations but I do know he asked them to look out for us. And man have they gone above and beyond. They were some of the first people to wish me a Happy Mother's Day. They will come running anytime I ask. They care.

So when I told Harper she would have 4 people with her, she said, "But what if my teacher gets mad?" Then is progressed to "Why not 5 people?"  (She's not spoiled at all.)

So today as I am working camp, I get pictures from her teachers and they guys of Harper enjoying her crew at Donuts with Dad.  My heart is so full and I feel so incredibly happy. My child is so loved and knows it. Although she may not realize it now, she will one day see how her Daddy's best friends were there for her and made such a huge statement at her first "dad" event without a physical dad present. Brian is beaming, I just know it. He
picked the best people to surround himself with and I am so thankful they are now mine. These boys are going above and beyond to fulfill their promise and I couldn't feel more loved. My heart is so full!

Entry 55: Life Keeps Going

After an amazingly happy weekend filled with lots of laughs, late nights, sun, relaxation and a sailboat my heart was exploding with thankfulness and happiness for this amazing life I am living. In the same sense though it's amazing how fast life keeps going. But it feels like losing Brian all over again. The loss feels very real again today for no specific reason. Is it because my heart experienced such happiness? Is it because it is summer and I have more time to slow down? Whatever it is, the specific details of Brian seem harder to pull out of my brain. He feels further away. My heart knows him fully and I think about him daily, but like I knew my brain would, it is starting to turn all the memories into pretty, little main idea marbles. So what do I do when I am sad and he feels far, we visit him.

After the grave, as we sit in the car waiting to go into the gym because I am always early, Harper suddenly starts lecturing me about how I need to not pack a certain type of Tupperware because "it's hard to open and we are working on learning how to open our own lunches, okay Mommy?"  And that makes me hug her sweet face and cry all over again. She is amazing. She is articulate. She hears every darn word that comes out of your mouth and every conversation even if she is on the other side of the room. We made his little girl and he doesn't get to enjoy all the wonderfulness of it. Who is going to help me remember the amazing details of her as life continues to rush by.

We ended the day with even more heart happy making memories. Dad turns 70 tomorrow and we got to celebrate with him. We got to take him to dinner and out for ice cream. How amazing is it that Mom and Dad live in St. Augustine?!?  I know life is going to continue to keep going. And I am going to continue to feel so happy and grateful for all I have.
But I am also always going to miss Brian. What he meant to me. How he made me feel as a person. How he brought me so much joy. And how easy it was to just be me and feel completely loved. I wish he didn't feel so far away.

Entry 54: 1 year + 3 months + 3 days

So here I sit, on the couch with my little love watching some god awful children’s show on Netflix and I’m overwhelmed by the huge void. Life is amazing. My job is awesome, I love my friends, my parents live here and aren’t hating it, I’m as busy as ever, financially I feel stable, and I’m healthier than ever, yet there is a void. Although I cry less, I miss Brian something fierce.

It’s nothing tangible, it’s more like why don’t I feel 100% satisified right now?? Everything is in place. There’s no huge stress or worry. My routine is working out great and Harper is doing wonderfully...I mean as wonderfully as a sassy 4 year old with Brian’s genes can be doing. So what is it? I just miss him. Like everything about him! I miss someone texting me that cares about me. Not saying the people who text me now don’t care but it’s different. I miss sharing small details, gossip or big joys with him.  I miss remembering all the little details about him. I wish my brain was better like that.  I’ve only dreamt about him a handful of times and in everyone he’s breaking up with me!!! I had one this week, he breaks up with me and doesn’t care or show any emotion as I’m crushed! I’m sure there’s so much meaning behind this! I miss him. His touch, his voice, his big presence.

For Harper’s 4th birthday and the anniversary of Brian’s death, Brent wrote a book for Harper. At the time I didn’t give it the attention is deserved. Tonight I sat and read it to Harper. She was so involved and asked questions about every picture and shared her memories of them. It was incredible. I had to act out the part where when you insulted Brian back, he would touch his leg and say it doesn’t hurt here, then touch his arm and say or here, then touch his heart and say it hurts right here! Harper cracked up. By the end of the book I can’t contain my tears and my baby climbs in my lap and just hugs me. This last page, of loving enough for two. Gosh it got me!

Life is amazing just a little less amazing without him. My person.

Now let me end this with one amazing story of empathy.  Every year I assign a photo voice project at the end of the year. Students take picture from their lives, kind of like PhotosbyHarps. Then they pick 4 and write a poem, an expository essay, an argumentative essay, and a narrative. Several years ago I wrote my own poem about time.   About when you’re a child you want time to hurry up, then when I had a baby I wanted time to slow down then there was a stanza in there about after a cancer diagnosis not knowing how much time was left.   Fast forward to last week. My current students heard from my former students about my poem and asked to see it. I saw no problem with this and put is up on my SmartBoard. As we read it together, I was tearing up just a tiny bit. It hit me that I wrote the stanza about not realizing how much time was left just 7 months before Brian died. As I look up to make sure my students can’t tell that I’m crying, 4 of the  7 of them are crying. Visibly crying! People say how can you teach middle school!!?  This is how! My 14 and 15 year olds that have never met Brian, cried along with me over a mediocre poem with such strong meaning! I love them! It made me heart so happy/sad. That’s one emotion.

Brian makes it so easy to miss him! Now if he could just stop breaking up with me in my dreams and come give me a hug, that’d be great!

I am thankful for my life and what I have. This is not me complaining or asking for pity. This is just the expression of the huge void felt today. I guess this void is always here, but at times it is much more quiet. Today it is shouting, begging to be seen. Tonight I am again thankful for the baby we made, the village we have, and love so hard to be without.

Entry 53: 1 Year + 2 Months + 10 Days

So it is kind of like when you know exactly how old your baby is down to the month and sometimes even the day, then after a year your baby is just 1. Ha! That's how it feels. The month markers come, the reminder pops up in my phone to take a monthly picture of Harper because I never turned off my reminder which now serves as a new reminder that another month has gone by since Brian died.

The part that makes me the saddest now is what Brian is missing out on. He and Harper would be the BEST of friends. I would probably be chopped liver. They would have ridiculous rituals and inside jokes. I would probably be kicked out of the room so they could play alone. And she would most definitely be 10,000 times more inappropriate than she already is. I mean she screamed "Good job Mr. Boobies" to people who were running at the gym a few days ago. Thank you very much. That's my kid! But even more inappropriate than that! It makes me sad that he doesn't get to experience this. That he doesn't get to see her antics or mold her even more. It also amazes me how much she picked up from him in those first three years. I cannot tell you how many times it catches me off guard when she is EXACTLY like him, especially when she is being crazy or messing with me.

As I sat on the beach at sunrise service this morning with Harper asleep on me, my mom next to me, and my friends with us, I saw the word lightning in the Bible verse referring to how to angel came and rolled away the stone. Seeing the word lightning of course will always immediately make me think of Brian (which I am SO thankful for). I closed my eyes and got sad, just thinking about missing him. And him missing this. This life. With us. But then I thought, well crap! Isn't that the point of today? We have hope. That although I am sad for Brian, he isn't sad. He gets to be in heaven. He gets to have the best. It's hard for me. I like to know all things. I ask 1 million questions with friends, in staff meetings, in appointments. I like to know. So not knowing exactly what it's like on the other side is tough. But as I sat there on the beach, watching people tip out of chairs, listening to the waves crash I thought, I'm sad but also filled with so much hope and a hope that what Brian is experiencing now is so much better than this and what I think he is missing. Maybe he is even laughing knowing seeing what he is missing and knowing how much he has there. I don't know. And I won't every get those answers. But there is peace in the hope. And on the beach this morning, the message of Easter hit me a little harder and made me even that much more thankful.

I also am just overwhelmed by the good. There are so many good things. I like to know things but I also like lists, so here's another list of 3 recent good things great things:

1. I feel so incredibly loved. The person who loved me most and was my person is gone. But more than ever I feel loved. Not because of something I am pretending to be. But I feel loved, just for being me, truly myself. I have incredible groups of friends, new and old. People who build me up, reach out often, and genuinely care about my family.  People I can confide in without judgement. People who will tell me when my gym clothes are too big. People who will call me out when they are concerned. People who love me even if the frequency in which we hang out has decreased to an unacceptable amount. It is insane to me to know just how deep and wide our village continues to be. When I lay in bed at night and miss Brian, I then think these things. The person who loved me best is gone but I feel incredibly loved every single day even if I am opinionated, loud, bossy, and going a mile a minute. Who gets to be this loved? I feel so so so fortunate because missing a love like his is hard, but I feel fulfilled.

2. Harper knows him. She talks about him. I laugh to think that Fletcher stole Brian's thunder. We all know Brian loved to be the center of attention and now Harper doesn't mention missing Brian without throwing Fletcher into the mix too. But Brian and Fletcher are daily words spoken in our house. Today the Easter bunny left Harps a Polaroid camera at the end of her string connected to her basket. Harper has been really in to taking pictures. She used it to take a picture of Bampy, me, GeGe, Macy and Bella. A little later on, Harper said, "I need my camera!!! I need to take a picture of Brian!" Then she jumped on the couch and took a picture of our canvas of our last professional family photo.  Don't ask me why she is suddenly calling him Brian. I think it's because she hears everyone else refer to him in that way.  Friday night she drew him on an Easter egg. She also asked me to write Harper loves Daddy before dying an egg. Don't worry, Fletcher got his own egg too. She was excited to go to his grave today. When she is crying because she is tired or was
removed from a situation or because she can't find the most recent rock she took from a flower bed at a restaurant, she will often say....I miss Daddy. But most the times when she speaks of him it is with laughter, ridiculousness or love, very rarely is it with sadness. What a great way to not only remember her Daddy but to live like him.

Saying goodbye to the old house.

Hello St. Augustine!

3. MY MOM AND DAD ARE MOVING HERE! During chemo treatments, mom and dad would make the 3.5 hour commute every other week and when people would say, they should move here I would scream NO!  To me, mom and dad earned their retirement. They busted their butts to provide us with a great life full of sports, family vacations, awesome toys (that are super fun to rediscover when packing boxes), and much much more. They each worked for over 30 years. If they move here I will not be able to help but use them. After Brian died, I still didn't want them to move here because I prided myself on being independent (even if I did call them every time there was a crisis). Again I also think they have earned their retirement. But the longer Brian has been gone, the more I realized that the idea of them living close means spending as much time as possible with them, I got on board.  This change is hard. My parents have lived in the same house for 40 years! This is a huge transition for them, but also a new transition for us.  I am so excited that they will be 2 miles away. I am excited that Harper gets to have both sets of grandparents living so close. I am going to do my best not to abuse their awesome grand parenting and let them enjoy the retirement they have earned. But I truly am thrilled that my mom and dad will be just a bike ride away. How lucky are we?

It's been 1 year, 2 months, and 10 days without the love of my life. It has been two Easters. But on this Easter I am grateful for so much. For love, for hope, for new beginnings.

Entry 52: Everyday Amazings

So several cool things happened today. It was too much to explain in just a Facebook post so I thought I would put it here.

I still think about Brian all the time, everyday, and in so many parts of my life. These thoughts don't bring tears as often. They many times bring smiles. It's not to say I don't cry. I still get sad and just miss the heck out of him. But I love him and am just so darn thankful for who he was and who I am now because of him.

There have been a lot of cancer stories that have affected me lately. My heart literally hurts for families and I cry for them. I can't imagine what they're going through even though I experienced it with Brian.  Little babies having to experience chemo, scares for friends who have already dealt with so much, and another diagnosis before I can even get over the last one I have heard about.   It is so sad and weighs heavy on me. I wish I could give to people like I have received. That being said, amazing things happen daily and here are my three favorite from today.

1. Lia came across campus at the end of the day to hand me a note she found in her niece's backpack. It tickles me so much because her niece is older than Harper but looks forward to spending time with her. All the time I look around and think of just how much Harper is loved by so many. She is so blessed and so fortunate. Brian was so in love with her and he would be so fulfilled seeing all people that love her too. We think her little friend is just as awesome. I love the kindness of kids and just how much they truly love each other.


2. Story #2: Harper went to an FSDB elementary school basketball game with Dani tonight. While there, Lia was coaching. A former school employee came up to Lia and asked her how she ended up becoming the coach. He went on to say, you should get Brian out of retirement to come coach these kids. Lia asked Brian who? He said Newton!  Lia had no other choice but to tell him.  Needless to say, Brian's former buddy was distraught. It amazes me that over a year later people still don't know in one way or another.  It also amazes me that Brian made such an impact on people that they want him to be there to do the amazing things he used to do, like coach elementary school basketball. The more amazing thing in this is Harper. Harper overheard Dani tell me the story in the quick 3 minute handoff Dani and I did before the game. Dani took Harper to meet the man but she was too shy to even look at him. Well after the game when riding in the car, Harper says, "He didn't know Daddy was in heaven?" Dani told her that he did not but I am sure he was happy to have met you because you look like him.  Then 2 minutes later Harper says, "Awwwww,  he and Daddy were friends."  I mean she gets it. She like totally gets it. She knows her daddy was amazing. She knows he's in heaven (which is something she and I have NEVER talked about yet because the advice of the social worker at Hospice was that at the age of 3, and the level of thinking of a typical 3 year old, if you mention heaven it sounds like a place they can come back from or you can go visit) so we say things like Daddy's body is here at the grave but God is taking care of his soul. Doesn't matter. She gets it anyways!  Also, I mean how great that he was so impactful and that although the saddest thing is that Brian died when Harps was so young, but how really cool that she has so much insight and maturity about a topic many of us (ME!!!!) can barely talk about without freaking out.

Story #3:  Dani was with Harper in the first place so I could go to the gym for the Open announcement and to watch my friends work out. While I was there one of the members walked in with her friend. I recognized her immediately. She is a professor and every semester Brian would present in her class to her students. He LOVED presenting to college students. Maybe because they always laughed, maybe because they were typically full of cute girls, who knows?!?  But when she came in, I said, "I know you, you did a lot of amazing things for my family when Brian was going through treatment." She smiled and confirmed that she sure was that person. She was part of a fundraiser that our friends did and her students gave toys specifically for Harper when they delivered the huge check from the fundraiser. Although, I hope I sent her a thank you card at the time, it was awesome to be able to actually thank her in person and tell her how much it truly meant. She also shared so many of her own personal stories of Brian and the ridiculous things he did while presenting. She said, "I knew him before he met you, and was there when he talked about meeting you, and mostly how much he talked about Harper." He was so proud. I loved hearing her stories and remembering specifics about him even more. All the details that others share about him, make him so real still. I was reading A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis given to me by one of Brian's long time friends. There is a section in there where is talking about the memories of his wife, H. It says,

"Thinking of the facts--real words, looks, laughs, and actions of hers. But it is my own mind that selects and groups them. Already less than a month after her death, I can feel the slow, insidious beginning a process that will make the H. I think of into a more and more imaginary woman."

I wrote before of making my memories into these pretty little marbles that aren't super detailed but just kind of clump together was a fear of mine. I didn't want it to happen with Brian like it has was other things in my life. Even Harpers infant year is a nice pretty marble with a few shiny details, but an overall summary of a happy baby. When other people share these specific details it makes it real Brian and keeps it from that imaginary state of Brian. For that I am super grateful.

So although the world has sad, and cancer is way too abundant. There are the everyday amazings that happen. They fill my heart so full. Kids are incredible. My kid is super incredible. Brian impacted many people and it is so far reaching that I forget about it until things like today happen.

Entry 51: One Year

Making it to the year mark doesn't feel like a milestone, it feels like a loss. The loss of something great. The loss of what was supposed to be. The loss of a huge part of me. I know there's still a future and I know we will move ahead, but I do have times where I am sad for what is lost. The loss of life of an incredibly inappropriate but loving man. The loss of a son. The loss of a father. The loss of a son-in-law/brother-in-law. The loss of a best friend. The loss of my husband. The loss of future plans for more babies and more family memories. The loss of affection and the safety of a strong relationship. The loss of the one who understands me most. The loss of the person who would enjoy Harper equally as much if not more. The loss of my person. The person who made every situation more fun. Whether it was a mundane activity of grocery shopping or a trip to Disney, Brian made it more fun. This loss feels the biggest. There was also the loss of a puppy who meant so much.

But in this year of loss, there have also been so many gains. I've gained friends, like amazing life-long huge group of supportive friends. I've gained a new insight for how I want to invest in people in the same manner Brian did. I've made personal gains in the gym which make me feel awesome and have helped my mental health more than I can explain. Harper has gained incredible wisdom, empathy, and the right amount of ridiculousness. We gained a new house that instantly felt like home. We gained freedom for adventures that took us to Boston, Alabama, North Carolina, Minnesota, and presently Georgia. I have gained a greater appreciation for a love that felt so right and so necessary. I gained a need to try to fully rely on myself even if this is still a work in progress.

Photo by Brent Culbertson Photography

In 2016, over 30 of our friends spent a weekend together at a mountain house in Georgia when we thought there wasn't much time left. In 2017, these same people spent every moment with us in Hospice. This year, all of us are together again at a mountain house in Georgia once again to remember the incredible person we all lost. Brian wasn't much on "friend-mixing" well at least that was until he got sick. When he got sick all of his worlds came together. His greatest legacy is what we have here. All of these people, under one roof, who all love him so much. A sign on the wall in the kitchen says, "Things fall apart so that things can come together." Although the loss feels so big and it has impacted every one of these last 365 days, this, these people is what he left us. What bigger gain could there be?

So as we celebrate this milestone, we remember someone who was so special to so many. It's crazy to think that out of all the people here, I am one of the ones who knew him for the least amount of time. There are a lot of hurting hearts here, but also so much joy and laughter. That's what he would adding if he was here. And although this would be more fun with him, it is a perfect way to celebrate the life of Brian Timothy Newton, the 4th birthday of his baby, Harper, and Steve's birthday too.