Festival of Trees

The employees at The Summit Group did an incredible job on Steve's tree at the Festival of Trees. Many thanks to the kind employees who put a lot of time, effort, money, and thought into his tree. The theme was, "Let Heaven and Nature Sing". The note on the back talked about how they wanted to honor one of their hero's in the Festival of Trees. It was a great tribute to Steve.

It was a bitter sweet for our family. We loved the treee, and we loved the way in which it represented Steve. However, it was really difficult to walk through isles of trees reading the stories of men, women, husband, wives, and children that have died. It did make me realize that there are other people out there with similiar situation like mine that are mourning the loss of a loved one. Sometimes you feel like no one understands your emotions, and feelings. I am sure there are others that do.

Jodi and Jon Fulks and their cute girls came with us. We tried to make it a more pleasant adventure by letting the little kids do crafts, and get in the "bubble machine". The bubble machine was probably the greatest hit.

A niece of mine sent me a poem that sums up a lot of my feelings. It is as follows:

Please be gentle with me for I am grieving,
The sea I swim in is a lonely one,
And the shore seems miles away,
Waves of despair numb my soul,
As I struggle through each day,
My heart is heavy with sorrow,
I want to shout and scream,
And repeatedly ask why?
At times, my grief overwhelms me,
And I weep bitterly,
So great is my loss,
Please don't turn away or tell me to move on with my life,
I must embrace my pain before I can begin to heal,
Companion me through tears,
And sit with me in loving silence,
Honor where I am in my journey,
Not where you think I should be,
Listen patiently to my story,
I may need to tell it over and over again,
It's how I begin to grasp the enormity of my loss,
Nuture me through the weeks and months ahead,
Forgive me when I seem distant and inconsolable,
A small flame still burns within my heart,
And shared memories may trigger both laughter and tears,
I need your support and understanding,
There is no right or wrong way to grieve,
I must find my own path,
Please will you walk beside me? By: Jill B. Englar