New Years Eve 2016, Bryon and I stayed in. We figured it would have been too hard to get a baby-sitter that night. Bryon made Beef Wellington. I never got my kiss that night because I looked over at him at 11:53pm and he was snoring in his chair.
Life was good. We had our routine. Our jobs were going well and things were going well at home. Our daughter was 16 months old and Bryon loved playing with her.
Bryon was preparing for weight loss surgery. I decided that I was going to get healthy alongside Bryon and I started Couch to 5k and I was going to run a half marathon in the fall.
In Feb 2016, we went on our last cruise with a few days in Florida beforehand. We went to the Tampa Zoo and we spent the day at Epcot with my cousin and her husband and we had dinner with Bryon’s Godmother and her family. On our cruise we visited Bryon’s two favorite ports, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. We had a few fancy dinners on our last cruise and those were probably our last date nights.
In March Bryon had his weight loss surgery and it went well. Bryon’s recovery started off well. He was looking forward to being cleared to re-institute solid food and being cleared to exercise. He wanted to start Couch to 5k and wanted to run a 5k. We were looking forward to the rest of our lives.
Then in an instant everything changed.
Bryon was critically ill in the ICU where he clung to his life for 5 months.
For 5 months I was exhausted and ran on adrenaline and caffeine, desperately pleading to God to heal Bryon. At the beginning of August, I had him transferred to New York City and for two weeks, things were starting to look up.
Until his body started to shut down.
On August 20, 2016 I was told that Bryon’s heart was going to stop beating.
He died the next morning.
For the following month, I was in total shock. That shock turned into fog. That heavy fog stayed for six months and then began to lift. I started noticing things about how I felt and how I was treated.
The fog has slowly been lifting.
I was a happily married wife and mother of a one year old and now I am a 39-year-old widowed mother of a three year old. Sometimes it feels like I was living my old life yesterday and other times it feels like a lifetime ago.
I feel that the fog is gone. I feel like my present is a combination of that moment on every episode of Saved by the Bell where the chaos is ensuing and Mr. Belding comes in and says “Hey, hey, hey! What is going on here?” and that episode of How I Met Your Mother when the glass kept shattering.
I have spent the last 22 months thinking. Thinking about so many things.
Things I have thought about over the last 22 months. (Disclaimer: This is not an exhaustive list)
My Marriage with Bryon.
How does his death affect our daughter? She won’t remember him.
The meaning of life.
My life from beginning to present.
Tacos.
What happens after we die?
My relationship with God.
How do I want to spend my remaining years?
The fact that I need to watch all those episodes of This Is Us on my DVR.
The Fuller House storyline and the fact that John Stamos is still hot after all these years.
What do I want out of life?
Can I ever love again?
What have I learned from all of this?
How can I make this horrible event positive?
My relationships.
I have decided to share with you some of the lessons I have learned so far. These lessons aren’t in any particular order. This is from my current perspective and may change after I spend more time thinking.
1) Grief takes time and can’t be rushed.
2) Only YOU know what’s best for YOU. Most people don’t have a clue what you need.
3) It is up to you to decide when you or if you are ready to live again.
4) You can’t change how people treat you. You can only change how you respond and set boundaries.
5) People will project their feelings onto you. Don’t take it personally. If someone is tearing you down, it is likely that they are the ones who are insecure and they tear you down to make themselves feel better.
6) Be open to others but beware of their intentions. People are not always who they project themselves to be.
7) Love yourself. You deserve it.
8) Surround yourself with loving, supportive people. Life is too short to be around toxic people.
9) There is always beauty in this world. You just need to make sure your blinders aren’t on.
10) People generally mean well. They don’t mean to say painful things. They are just products of a society that doesn’t know how to handle death and grief.
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