4 Funerals and a Tree

Saturday, September 5th--Today, I attended the funeral of Lucas Nelson. He passed away of brain cancer at the tender young age of 8 months. (If you wish to read about his story, told by his parents, please read their blog at http://nelsonsforever.blogspot.com/) It was incredibly emotional seeing him, dressed in white, in his little, white, coffin--the imprint of his feeding tube was still present on his little cheek. He had just recently lost his hair due to the attempts to shrink the tumor via chemotherapy. The funeral service was just as emotional, his parents, Shannon and Aaron, honored us all with their courageous expressions of love for their little son. I went to Lucas' funeral with my friend, Kathy, and her 3 beautiful girls. Kathy's little baby son, Phoenix, died while she was in labor with him on January 4th, of this year. Lucas was born only a few weeks before Phoenix so this funeral seemed to hit Kathy quite hard, which was totally understandable. I remember his funeral too. I don't think I've ever cried so much at a funeral. Kathy stood and shared a beautiful poem she had written for her sweet, little Phoenix. Then we all listened as her daughters and their cousins sang an angelic version of "I Am a Child of God".

A month later, in February, my brother-in-law, Shad, lost his mother, unexpectedly. She had back surgery but there were complications as she began to recover. Connie, was a sweet lady but she was an alcoholic so she had kind of "checked-out" of her sons lives a long time ago. Sadly, the alcoholism might have contributed to her inability to recover.

The end of May came with the news that my grams had passed, while expected, it was still a hard time as I reflected on the memories of her and what a wonderful grandma she was. The last few years had been upsetting as we all watched her memory be affected by dementia caused by many mini-strokes. The last few months she didn't really know anyone and wasn't very coherent.

Up until this year, the last time I had attended a funeral was 2 years ago. Before that, quite a long time ago. This year, I've attended 4 funerals. There were two other funerals, within our close community, I was made aware of this year but didn't know the families. My dad tells me my grandpa doesn't have much longer to live. Then there was the passing of Sadie Huish on June 25th. I didn't learn of her story and passing till 2 weeks after she was laid to rest. (her moms incredible and touching tribute to her is here: http://sadiehuish.blogspot.com/) Sadie passed away from brain cancer too. She was 6 years old.

So you're probably wondering what the "tree" part of my title is all about, eh? This year I'm very excited about a project we're participating in with Nate's brother, Dustin, and his wife, Crystal. We're donating a tree to the Festival of Trees. Part of the inspiration for the design of the tree came from some of the sweet stories Sadies mom tells of her. Our plan is to dedicate the tree to Sadie and Lucas. In doing so, we'll be able to display a picture of each of them next to the tree and we hope to bring awareness to brain cancer in children. The proceeds of the auction of the trees are 100% donated to Primary Childrens Medical Center, where both, Sadie and Lucas, were treated. Our family has also spent time at Primarys when Brady was first diagnosed with diabetes. We were treated so well by the staff as they worked to control Brady's high glucose levels. Those that came in to teach Nate and I how to manage this "new normal" did it with respect and kindness. I remember hearing one of the educators call diabetes a "disease", that was the ultimate reality check. To this day, I still hate that word. It's been 2 1/2 years since and, while I don't like that we have to deal with diabetes at all, I still find reasons to feel blessed. It's manageable. We have scares during cold and flu season so, for that matter, please don't send your sick kids to school or church, it really can make a difference--I don't like taking my son to the ER. Other than that, Brady is a typical 4-year-old (yeah, I know he's a tall giant!). He plays, runs, wrestles and enjoys everything you'd expect him to. Should we do a tree next year, perhaps, it'll be dedicated to him and the three other family members who also have Type 1 Diabetes (Brady's cousins, Jacob & Darci and his aunt, Wendy). In the meantime, this year, as I've asked myself many times over, "What can I do?", I can continue to keep these families in my prayers but also, we can honor their childrens lives, and the tough battles they courageously fought, with a beautiful tree that thousands of people will see and their beautiful faces next to it. I hope those of you that read this, and are living in Utah (or visiting December 2-5), will take the time to attend the Festival of Trees. It is one of my favorite traditions. You will be amazed and touched! ......maybe you'll want to bid on the tree too! ; )

More to come as we prepare and get ready in the few months to come.