I wanted to do something memorable with the boys on Father's Day - something we could make a tradition each year now that Eric is no longer with us. What I did was have the boys write notes to Eric. Then we attached the notes to some balloons and went up to the cemetery on Father's Day morning and the boys released their balloons with messages attached into the air for their dad to get.
Their notes were heartfelt and sweet. I had Paxton tell me what to write & he drew some pictures on the opposite side of his notes. One of his messages said:
"Dad - I love you!" The other was the Barney song that he was singing & wanted me to write down to his dad, he sang it like this: "I love you dad, you love me, we're a great big family. With a great big hug & a kiss from me to you, I love you - Paxton." The last one I had to prompt him for things to say like "Happy Father's Day, I miss you and love you so much. You are the best dad. Love, Paxton"
Parker wrote is own - he said "Will you see me again soon dad? Do you miss me too? From Parker, Paxton and mom." The 2nd one said "I will miss you dad. I hope you have seen your dad too. From Parker, Paxton and mom." The last one said "Dad - I love you so much. I will never forget you dad. I hope I see you again soon or later. If I see you again I will say I love you dad so much. I will see you again. I will miss you so much dad. From Parker, Paxton & mom." They each said something to their dad as they were releasing their balloons and we watched them go higher and higher into the sky until we could see them no longer. I'm sure Eric got their messages of love.
We also left a Happy Father's Day balloon and a card at his grave with a pic of the boys & Eric together.
The day before the boys went to a church primary activity where they painted an apron for their dad. They decided to give their apron to their poppy (my dad.) and he wore it BBQing for us later that day. I forgot to take a picture of the boys with him & the apron but do have this pic with poppy & my nephew Bridjer & you can see the apron. It also has each kid's handprint on it along with things like "I love you" and "I love you dad."
We spent the afternoon at my parent's house with the rest of the family for a BBQ. My dad is such a wonderful man! I'm so glad he's my dad and proud of the great example he sets to me and the boys. I hope he had a good Father's Day. He continues to do so much for me and the boys whether it's going to Parker's baseball games, setting him up for some private pitching lessons, coming over early Sat mornings to tend so I can go to spin class, figuring out the combination to Eric's safe so we could open it, or fixing my sprinkler heads, he does whatever he can to help.
I admire my dad's strong testimony of the gospel and was so impressed with the talk he gave at Eric's funeral. It strengthened my own testimony to hear what he testified of. He had such nice memories to share about Eric as well and has really been affected & touched by Eric's death.
My dad always had a good relationship with Eric and really loved him. Eric loved and respected my dad and was very helpful and thoughtful towards my parents all the time. My dad baptized Eric back in March 2004 when he joined the church. My dad used to take Eric with him to the Priesthood session every General Conference (even before he joined the church.) My dad taught Eric how to tie a tie. About a month or 6 weeks before Eric died he had my dad show him again how to do it since he hadn't worn one in a while and had forgotten how to do it. I gave a few of Eric's ties to my dad - the one Eric wore the day he was baptized and the one he wore when we went to the temple since those had the most sentimental value.
Happy Father's Day to Eric, my Dad, and brothers Jerry & Sam! I love you all and appreciate all you do for me and the boys!
9 comments:
Rebecca, what a sweet post. You brought tears to my eyes. We also tied messages of love to a balloon to send to Carter's mom on the year anniversary of her death. I think it is a great tradition, although I did learn that smaller notes fly better. One of the balloons was really weighted down and did not make it far. :)
That was such a great idea for the boys to do. It will be a great tradiition I am sure. Glad to see you have a blog. :)
Made me cry, becca. Love you.
Okay Becca you are my hero! I love and admire you so much. You really are an amazing person. You are such a great example to me! I love what you did with the boys for father's day, that was so sweet. They are so lucky to have a mother like you! I hope that each day is getting a little better for them. Thet say that the first's of everything are the hardest. I am so glad that you have such an amazing family to get you & the boys through this as well. By the way Poppy looks great in the apron!
What a great idea, and a good way for your boys to express their feelings. Hope things are going well... if you need ANYTHING let me know! Hill
I like the balloon notes. The boys wrote such sweet things! We did that last August when my grandpa had been gone for a year. Jake, my brothers, uncles, and step-dad also inherited a couple ties from him and all wore them to the funeral.
Rebecca, I couldn't read all that without tears coming in my eyes. I'm so glad you and the boys honored Eric on Father's Day.
I have cried every time I have looked at your blog. I don't know if it is the sweet heartfelt way you are remembering him, or just the whole situation. What a neat idea. Love Cher
Rebecca-
I knew you as a girl, but you seem like an awesome woman! You've been through a lot. I admire the way you talked about your husband and are keeping his spirit alive for your boys. I also admire the respect you have for your father. I have always thought the world of him and your mom. Your posting brought tears to my eyes. You're a doll!
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