Where I Am – 1 Year 11 Months

Many thanks to Angie from Still Life with Circles for the Right Where I Am project which allows women from all walks of life and at all stages of their loss to talk about where they are in their lives since ‘that’ day took place. Please pop over there and join in. 

I can only remember small parts of the days, weeks and months after Bobby died and I am thankful for that because what I do remember bloody hurt, real bad. I am thankful for this blog because it allows me to look back occasionally and realise just how far I have come. For the first time since Friday 3rd July 2009, I really, honestly, hand on my heart, do feel ‘ok’ about life and where it is heading.

It is Bobby’s 2nd birthday in just under a month and this is the first major occasion which I have not built up to be a huge monster of a day.

Ok I am 2 stones heavier in weight since his death due to depressive eating and down right laziness but my mind is lighter. My emotions have been up and down from month to month (you only have to read the blog posts to witness this) but these past two-ish months have been the most consistent emotional wise since before he came into our lives.

The relationship between the OH and I has become more passionate since his death. Not passionate in a sexual way but when we argue there is passion behind it. Our arguments have meaning to them now where as before they were often petty and pointless. Having worked our way through all of the shit which the death of your child brings to your relationship, there is no longer that guilt or feeling of ‘does he blame me for what happened’. We are now able to speak about Bobby for what he is; our child. Gone has the feeling of not being able to speak about him for the fear of upsetting each other at the sound of his name. The lump at the back of the throat while trying to speak his name is no longer there. We are (finally) currently waiting for is memorial stone to be laid and I know for a fact this has helped me emotionally beyond words.

Work currently is the best it has ever been. Having started the job only two weeks after Bobby died I have grown as a person within it (the ‘new’ me) as much as the role has grown in regards to its responsibility around me.

Friends and family have not changed much since that day. If anything I have become closer to certain friends and family then ever before. They are all quick to provide virtual hugs even when not actually needed which can sometimes annoy me or make me chuckle but hey, a hug is a hug and each one has meaning behind it.

I am comfortable knowing that Bobby will always be remembered by these people no matter how many years pass. They have taken some wonderful photos especially to go into his birthday book of which I am most thankful for. Don’t get me wrong, some friends and family never have wanted to be involved with his remembrance, or even to this day do not feel comfortable for me to speak about him to them but do you know what, I’ve learnt to accept that and god help them if life throws them a shitty stick.

Helping others through Lisa’s Stars Charity has helped towards the above listed feelings beyond words. What better way to keep your baby's memory alive than to help others in the same position.

I understand this post most probably sounds as though I am walking around like a Princess in a Walt Disney movie but believe me this has been long time coming and boy its taken buckets of tears, manic depressive thoughts, a hell of a lot of weeks of feeling worthless as a woman and paranoid that my little man will be forgotten.

And so to cut out the crap and honestly respond to the statement in the title of this post - Where I Am ...

I am in the final stage of my grief ... I am in Acceptance. I have accepted that Bobby is dead, that our first and only Son died beyond our control and I have accepted that no matter how many tears I cry or wishes I make, he is not going to come back but that does not mean that he is not here. 

And with that acceptance, comes the light of Where I truly Am.