Last September, when my blog post, “Tossing Sorries,” was Freshly Pressed by WordPress, which brought hundreds and hundreds of new readers to my blog, we were in the process of making an appointment for Harry with a neurologist to figure out what was going on with his back.
Later that month, Mike and I both marked our birthdays (40 and 38, respectively) while Harry was in the hospital undergoing tests that would ultimately result in a diagnosis of insulinoma, a cancer in his pancreas.
In early October, Harry was still in the hospital because he suffered complications after undergoing surgery to remove the tumor. At the same time, a parenting columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch interviewed me for an article she was writing about the popularity of the Rainbow Loom. The piece, “Loomstruck: Rubber band bracelets go viral,” which included direct quotes from me and my popular blog post, “Rainbow Loony,” was featured on the front page of the newspaper’s Sunday lifestyle section.
It was a Sunday evening in October when Dylan rode his bike for the first time without training wheels. Earlier that same day, we readmitted Harry to the hospital because he was vomiting and wouldn’t eat. His last night on Earth was on Halloween. While the boys celebrated an epic evening of trick or treating with friends, Harry’s body shut down.
Today would’ve been Harry’s 9th birthday. I swallowed tears all morning, and then I discovered that The Container Store responded to a tweet I wrote yesterday about shopping at their store as a retreat on my sixteenth day of (temporary) single motherhood…
…which was totally and completely awesome.
As I finish typing this post, Gertie is sleeping on my lap as Harry so often did when he was a puppy.
Sometimes happy and sad collide.
The Runaway Mama by Jen Gregory 
Think positive thoughts…..happy bday to the little guy watching over you, the boys, Mike and Gertie.
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Awww…happy birthday to Harry. I struggle with milestones like this – things that mark just how long they’ve been gone or things that we’d be celebrating if they were still here. But as much as we might want to live life in a vacuum, focusing on one thing at a time, life just keeps on moving…bring the good and bad with it. Happy thoughts to you.
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Thanks so much for the kind and wise words. I’m getting through the day…with the good and the bad. And tomorrow is another fresh start. Thanks for reading!
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I think life is often bittersweet. Those moments of sadness and happiness colliding is what makes life so magical!
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Magical, indeed. It’s been a day of highs and lows and tears and laughter. I suppose that’s how it should be! Thanks so much for reading!
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I agree that happy and sad often cross paths when you least expect it…adding some sunshine to the rain!
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Yes, sometimes happy and sad collides, and sometimes we lose things/people/pets (even moments) to make space for new ones to enter our life and teach us things we still need to learn. Hang in there!
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I am new to the world of blogging, and I love your blog. This entry is so sweet, simple, heart felt. The degree to which we live an open hearted life, is how much we will feel the immense sadness and incredible happiness that is. And it totally happens all at once sometimes! That’s my favorite part about mommyhood…nothing could be so heartbreakingly beautiful and teary and silly and frustrating and truthful all in the same day! Love to you on this special day of remembrance. If you have access to fresh rosemary, you could take a sprig (ask the plant for permission first) and sleep with it under your pillow…our put it next to a picture of Harry, in remembrance and celebration.
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Thanks so much for your kind words about the blog. Welcome! And thank you for the knowledge about rosemary. I will definitely get a sprig…with permission, of course.
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