That First Anniversary

 Honestly, we made the best of it we could, put the best face on it possible, but Oct 23rd is going to be our least favorite day of the year. I'm thankful to have this first anniversary in the rear-view mirror. This day could generate about 6 blog posts and I'm not sure how I'm going to divide it all up. Let's see...

We ALL had a hard time sleeping on Tuesday night.   Early on Wednesday the doorbell rang. Walmart delivery. Someone had sent us an assortment of juices, blueberry muffins and apple fritters (Josiah's favorite).  It wasn't long before 10 smoothie bowls from a local spot were also delivered. The texts, emails, breakfast items were totally unexpected. You all are the best. 

Since I was up before the sun - not a hard thing this time of year - I decided to head over to the cemetery. I knew the day would be bustling and I knew I needed some quiet time. It began to snow as I drove up...I was not deterred. I sat on my blanket beside Josiah's grave, in the snow and waited for a spectacular sunrise. Um...what a dud! I guess you don't get spectacular sunrises when it's snowing?  It was so foggy the big mountains disappeared. 

The glass vase had frozen. The red flowers had to be retrieved again. I chased them into the neighbor's yard... I briefly thought how nice it would be when Josiah's memorial stone finally arrived. 

I did enjoy processing in the snow with a nice big mug of tea! 

I knew others would be arriving at our house and so I went home. I thought GG would be up and have had breakfast. It was after 10 a.m. I got home to a quiet house. Allie was gone. She had gone to the cemetery to find me. We passed each other. I got GG up and fed.   Krista and Nolan each stopped at the cemetery and then arrived at our house. 

Krista brought "art therapy." I have failed at "Lego therapy" but today she had a bit of everything for everyone. Michael got up and delivered packets to the police department and chiropractor's office. Stacia got up and visited the cemetery. Arielle arrived with coloring pages. 

Bre and the kids passed out packets at the local pool, a carwash and a parking lot. Arielle and kids covered story hour at the Train Depot. 

Bella, Jojo, Trudy, Annie, Gideon 📷by Bre

📷by Bre

Meanwhile Stacia received a surprise at the cemetery. She noted all the things were pushed aside. There were two people hovering over Josiah's space. She was ready to deal with this indignity...and then she discovered they were installing Josiah's memorial stone. She texted and Michael and I went out to see it. 

We were honored when Carrie asked us to do the research on which cemetery to use, she asked only it be in our town and have a view of Pioneer Peak.  When I narrowed it down, Michael, Carrie and I met with the employees and selected a space. Then we drove into Anchorage and collaborated on the memorial stone we'd like. We wanted it to tell a bit of the story of who Josiah was and how he lived.  I think we succeeded. 

The vase means my times of chasing flowers across the gardens will most likely be far less often.  It has all the typical features...but it has a heart shape in honor of Liv, "Super Fly Cy" as that was a name Josiah always joked about being known by and a name he convinced Livie to call him, the photo is great, the etching is from a photo of him fishing.... and the verse...I think we got it all on there. Michael is still shaking his head and how much Carrie, and I managed to fit onto the stone. LOL 

We let Carrie, and others, know the stone was in so they wouldn't be surprised as Stacia was. We hadn't been told it had arrived. I think they noted the date and made it happen. What a nice surprise on a hard day.  The visiting continued at the house....Carrie and the girls stopped at the cemetery and then came to the house. 

Josi and Liv 

📷by Carrie

Josiah's Girls 📷by Carrie

They just got home from their Florida adventures, and it was so good to see them. 

Bachan and Ellie

Arielle had come over solo in the morning. Cory arrived with the boys about the time Carrie and the girls arrived. 

Danny, Josi and Arielle

Allie, Stacia and Livie had the first snowball fight of the season. 

Charles, Danny & Papa

Jared and Jamin arrived. We had sandwiches, visited and were just together. Some went on walks. Bre arrived and then took kids to AWANA and then came back for another bit. 

Carrie, Jamin, Arielle, Cory, Jared and kids 

Jamin & Ellie

Jared & Josi - 📷by Carrie

During this time Jared received word from the Regional Directory of Josiah's previous employer. He sent a copy of the letter he sent to associates telling them they could wear jeans and flannel to work on the 23rd and that they were giving everyone the day off after 4 p.m. He also said some very nice things about Josiah and shared a slide announcing the renaming of the conference room at their regional office. 

It was a good day. I was deeply touched by how many have offered acts of kindness in Josiah's memory, how many reached out to say they were touched by Josiah's life and miss him still. 

We didn't share memories or talk about Josiah a lot today...we simply were together as we walked through another difficult day. A couple of us prefer processing solo and that was o.k. too!  It was hard good. 

GRACE NOTES:

1. We are still standing one year later. 

2. Having so many in one place was a blessing this year.