Nora's 12th Birthday!

Before I call it a day, I'm going to put up a third and final post. Then it will be high time to give my eyes a break from this screen. I do not believe I stepped outside at all today and have spent 10+ hours on the computer. This reflection will be a nice reminder of the hours spent in the beautiful outdoors yesterday! I can now focus on this since our littlest has given way to slumber. She had to give all sorts of reasons why she wasn't sure she would be able to fall asleep, but once she stopped the laundry list of reasons it only took about 3 times through Alida's lullaby and her grasp on my hand loosened and she was out!

Tuesday I was determined that I would truly take off Wednesday and be with my family (not just physically but mentally and emotionally too). It made Tuesday a rather trying day in some regards, and today as well, but I mostly kept to my commitment for yesterday. Due to last minute details to attend to for the blood drive, I was online for snippets of time, but did my very best to ignore work-related items. Again, mostly successful! I always feel like the way I can honor Nora most on her birthday is to give my full attention to Jason and the girls and soak up their presence in my life! Nora would have turned 12 yesterday so it's been 4, 8, 12 and 16 years since the births of our four girls! I felt the passage of time more keenly than I do on some birthdays, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I had walked up to Hensley's Pond a few times recently with others and found myself marveling at the changing leaves and wanting the rest of the family to get to experience it as well. For our family it is no small feat to get out of the house by 9 a.m. and we didn't quite meet our goal, but we were heading down the lane by about 9:30 or so. We had a happy and energetic trio of kids (and hoped that would last for the duration). We had the jogger along as back up, which were were grateful for when Terah tripped and twisted her ankle. As she was crying about it, she said "but it's pretty common." Somehow it seemed she felt some reassurance in telling herself that nothing unusual had happened to her. She also needed to keep making sure we knew that she was still sad that it had happened. But by the time we got back to the gates she was hoping to climb, her ankle had healed!

The pond did not disappoint. The ripples and the leaves and the clouds making for interesting reflections... I only wished we could have sat there much longer. Had we, though, and I'm pretty sure Terah might have ended up in the water. We got away with only one foot wet!

 

We pulled ourselves away to get home and make a pretty quick turn around. But I took with me the little space being out in nature had created inside of me. The hike was a much needed part of this day of remembering, and provided a time for a little bit of memory sharing as we walked and talked. I love that Kali ascertained that orange was Nora's favorite color. It's a wonderful color for anyone with a fall birthday. The world is glowing in yellows, oranges and reds right now. It was the little yellow leaves that really drew my attention and as I held them I also noticed my turquoise fingernail, reminding me of another Norah we were remembering and honoring on this day.

A number of people were curious yesterday how long we have been doing this so I just went digging. We held our first blood drive around on Nora's birthday in 2012. We have done it every anniversary of her death and every birthday since so this makes 15! And I don't see the tradition ending anytime soon, though it has changed over time.

This was our second drive at the Keezletown Ruritan Club  - they have been so generous in letting us use that great space for the last two drives! It was also our second with the Red Cross - we worked out a lot of bugs since the last one and this one flowed so smoothly. It was also the second time that we were remembering both our Nora and our friends' daughter Norah who died this spring. We were not wishing for another family to join us in this way. But also grateful for a space and time set aside to honor her and hopefully support them in a very small but tangible way. In the face of such immense loss it often feels hard to know what one can do to provide any comfort.

 

There was also a first for this blood drive. Kali was old enough to donate, with parental permission! Once again my daughter surprises me - she wanted me to add her to the schedule! Her nervousness was definitely on the rise as the drive approached, but her resolve to give it a try was also strong! As it turned out, by the time she was getting checked in, I was in the chair donating and so I was not able to be right by her. But it didn't take much to see that she was visibly shaking from nervousness. She passed the check in with flying colors (surpassing my 12.8 hemoglobin levels with her 14.4 - she has some extra to give)!

  

 

 

They had to give her some extra time to try to calm down. Grandpa was there giving her breathing tips but her whole body was trembling. Then we suggested that she say some of her lines from the upcoming play she is in. Before long she was reciting one of their common warm ups: "Betty Botter bought a bit of butter. But the bit of butter Betty Botter bought was bitter. So Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter and mixed it with the bitter butter to make the bitter butter better." That did the trick. Before long she was rolling and seemed a bit surprised at how easy it ended up being. Phew! Great first time experience!!

There were lots of old and new faces - some have given at many blood drives in the past and some were new to join us and were new to donate. It was a mixture of members of our community and of Eric and Peggy's, as well as some overlap. 

 

A highlight for me was most definitely having a sweet 7 month old little one to snuggle and play with while her parents donated. She is the age Nora was when her little body tuckered out. I so enjoyed interacting with this vibrant, sweet little person.

So many people contributed to making the event a success. We had volunteers sitting at the welcome/registration table. Many people contributed a whole smattering of amazing snacks. We had some drop in just to give hugs and support. And lots of kids were available to provide a much needed distraction at times. And then all those that came to donate blood - we surpassed any previous drives with over 35 successful donations (I don't actually know the final count but we had 44 of us on the schedule, 3 that cancelled late or didn't show up, and a few that didn't meet the iron mark...). The staff were incredible to work with, excellent at what they did and really caring and fun! No complaints! It was a very long afternoon/evening for our family but we came home in good spirits around 8:30 p.m. (Kali had left for play practice at 6:30 p.m. so we even managed the transition home without her help!).

Before leaving, Terah and Alida got to tear around for a few minutes dancing in the empty hall! Oh, and dancing reminds me - the purple outfit! Terah has fallen in love with this beaded shirt and skirt. And it just so happens that it is the very outfit that Kali wore to Nora's memorial service where she danced while a group from Shalom sang, "Nothing is Lost on the Breath of God." I learned today that one of my students lost loved ones on October 30 many years ago. Now Nora's story is intertwined for me once more with additional stories of love and loss. We are not alone - in our need to celebrate, to grieve, to care for each other, to honor our stories and the stories of others, and to work at making the world a more beautiful, just and loving place!