Author: marybethgaige

The first few days getting dressed for the hospital were a blur… One day I wore the Time Turner necklace Tim got me because he said I was Hermione. Then I pulled out the necklace he bought me in Breckenridge on our first trip there together in early 2008. Two hearts in one with a small diamond… And I wore it every day thereafter. That first day, May 17th, they gave me his ring in a bag. I put it in his toiletry bag I’d been carrying since I arrived with his toothbrush, etc., and then his wallet and phone and other things in. On the day he died I got the ring out, put it on that heart necklace and put it around my neck. I wore it there every day for a year. After the year mark I started wearing it only on special occasions or days I felt I needed extra strength. It is so very heavy. We picked it… Tungsten, for that reason… Indestructible and inexpensive in case he lost it or so he couldn’t destroy it!

I wore it on special days and the Saturday before Easter, when the kids and I took Tim’s dad to see Tim’s bench at Veramar for the first time. A wanted to take a picture of D, Chief and I. We sat together and posed and D started wiggling then pushed hard into my chest and I felt a little crunch-snap. Tim’s ring pushed hard into the chain of my necklace and it broke and the ring and the two hearts charm fell. My heart sank. D ran off. A caught the moment on my phone….

The location was not lost on me. After all the time wearing the necklace… That it would break in the very spot where we exchanged rings… Sitting on the bench I bought to dedicate to him. There, mere steps from where he put it on for the first time.

This is me, pumping in the hospital, 2 years ago. I was there fighting for my husband’s life every day, and still making sure I could pump for my 9 month old baby… I took this pic to share with mom friends when I could find no private place to pump, so resorted to a mostly deserted waiting room near the step down unit. I wanted to share this memory today, now, more widely.
Every woman has stories like this. Private things they did with their bodies. Choices they made. I have more.

I want my children to understand the science of women’s bodies, and the choices they have, or SHOULD have regardless of class, status or means. I want them to have all safe, healthy, choices available to them in healthcare. I want them to respect their own and other bodies, and not be ashamed of their bodies. I want my son to understand the science, the social science, and what can and can not be legislated. I want him to understand his own responsibility. I want my daughters to educate and advocate for themselves. Most importantly, I want them all to understand the importance of choice.

I shared this on Facebook but later thought it important to capture here for the kids. This past weekend was Mother’s day weekend. I took off Friday. Specifically to do the three day potty training approach. Man did our guy rock it. Yes, it’s still a work in progress moving forward after this weekend, but he took to it better than I imagined! That was his Mother’s day gift to me ♥️ What more could I possibly ask for?! He and I had a really great day together Friday, I love learning more about his personality. He and the girls both brought home amazing homemade cards and gifts.

There are many emotions on Mother’s day. A hyped Hallmark holiday… and yet we want to be sure to send love to all the mothers or motherly in our lives♥️…and yet it is a day of many emotions, and difficult for many, either due to the loss of a mother, the loss of or longing for a child, or an estranged relationship… I was blessed with a wonderful mother, I was blessed that motherhood came to me relatively easily. And for these things I am sincerely grateful.
But mother’s day will also be forever the last weekend we were together, the Gaige party of five. I am grateful for the reason to have a card in his handwriting from that last weekend, with words I look at often when mothering seems more than I can handle. But I will never again be greeted or reassured on Mother’s day by the man who made me a mother. This heavy sadness of the day is unshakable. Yet I count my blessings, for they are many. What ever this holiday stirs in you, Happy Mother’s day to all my beautiful village. ♥️

It was a rainy day but we were mainly on the go… It was a difficult day. I was close to murdering my children in Trader Joe’s when I ran into a former colleague who offered a play date if I needed a minute…. At first I said no… I’d never met his wife and short of work, really don’t know him very well. But I was thinking about wrangling a 6 and 2 year old in the pouring rain while big sis played lacrosse and said ok. I dropped the littles off for playing and lunch. They had a good time. I hate to feel like I’m accepting charity because of my situation… But I appreciated it.

This afternoon R fell asleep on the couch while I was preparing dinner. She woke up and just cried. I held her at the kitchen table for a long time. When prompted she agreed she had a bad dream. Eventually, without prompting she said “I miss Daddy.” Post-bath we talked and I agreed I miss him. She said she wished he could come back every week, and I said I wished he was just here all the time. She agreed but said “but if THAT’S not possible, I wish he could just come back once a week. But I know that can’t happen.” Then she looked up at me hopefully, exactly the way she does when she says “I wish I could have a sweet after dinner but I know I can’t…” {Eyes beg me to contradict.} When I thought she felt better, I went downstairs to get A and D… then heard her sobbing. She just cried “daddy!!” Big fresh weeping sobs like she just found out… Like it had just happened. She FEELS that one. I comforted her as best as I could… told her I wish I could offer some comforting words but I’m pretty sure she will always miss him… I tried without saying it to tell her that it’s ok to feel sad. It’s ok to feel this sad.

This was out of character. I don’t truly know what triggered it. She never described “the bad dream…”

All I can think is that somehow she feels this time of year too, because she simply feels everything. It’s a good reminder to me. They can feel it too.