Pat's Baby Momma- Storytime

Patrick and I affectionally called each other "Baby Momma" and "Baby Daddy." When he would call my phone and his photo would appear with that caption, it would always get a chuckle from whomever was in our company at the time.  I proudly wear the banner of Mom of his Seven Exceptional Children who all bear the image of their earthly and heavenly Fathers. I am honored to have been consistently lauded, appreciated, and admonished as a great mom.   Below are a few memorable stories of some of my best Mother's Days past.

One of the things that Patrick learned is that I loved the gift of quiet, which had been a rarity for the last thirteen plus years. So, one Mother's Day, he loaded up all of the kids told me to "stream church online" and he took them all with him to service. I cranked up my Gospel rap, danced and sang until they got back home. I couldn't remember the last time before that, when I had a Sunday morning to myself to praise and worship with BOTH hands raised. 

 Another time, he rented me a white mustang so that I could ride in stylish silence for the entire weekend! Being able to jump in the car and hear nothing for miles was music to my ears.  But one of my favorite Mother's Days, was when he and my sister Kandace joined together to get me a night away from it all. I slept, ate, took several showers and binged Grey's Anatomy with not a single interruption. It was awesome.

He always took the kids out to buy my favorite things the night before, and their faces would light up the morning of during the presentation. Candles, Journals, and makeup...they knew me well.  Patrick always affirmed me as a mother and taught and modeled that appreciation for the kids. I'm grateful today for having had him as my Baby Daddy and partner on this parenting journey.

Family Updates For April

April was a climb. I'm not going to lie.  Although there were several small and large victories, I realized this month that I don't have my reinforcement.  Raising a family of this size, with the diversity of personalities and giftings was a delicate dance.  It became more real to me this month that we're missing the reinforcement. The teamwork of our parenting was a godsend, and very necessary. Accepting that I am apparently supposed to go at this alone, without my person, truly knocked the wind out of me this month.  As always, I am truly grateful for each of the prayer warriors. Knowing that you're there, lifting us up to the Father is a treasure and a comfort to our souls. Know that the kids are praying for y'all as well.

A List of Beautiful Things

• I got a chance to finish up this round of Mommy Dates with Elijah, Avielle, and Joy. We enjoyed our one-on-one time together.
• A few nights a week, we added the Compliment Circle to our bedtime prayer routine. Each of the kids go around and share what they love, admire or appreciate about their sibling. It is a beautiful time of reflection and takes the edge off of struggle nights.
• We got a chance to have one of our counseling sessions at a new location this month. It was situated on a beautiful property with porch swings, horses, and space to relax while the others were in session.  
• The YMCA Splash pad and pool has been a great way for us to unwind on the weekends, all of the kids had a blast in the water!
• We had a fun time celebrating Joy and my sister Kandace's birthdays, they are only 4 days apart. 
• For Easter we celebrated by attending our first outing of the year at New Life Village.  Then, we headed to Lutz for easter egg hunts and pony rides and ended with two church services on Easter Sunday.
• We implemented a new activity to help our "Struggly Sundays".  We now call them "Sundae Sundays" and we visit a local ice cream shop in honor of our person. We've always enjoyed laughs and ice cream with family and friends.
• Most of the kids will be performing in a music recital later in May at our church. 

Family Updates

Joy is really making strides. She turned six this month, is now able to read family devotionals! She has been standing in worship more and even waking up singing.  She also graduated to Book B in Piano, and is excited to continue to learn. Seeing genuine excitement on her face was beautiful and refreshing.  One area that has been hardest for her is learning karate.  She is often shy and in this season, more sensitive to quick action and loud noise.  But, she pushed through an entire class and was rewarded by earning a stripe on her white belt for a job well done.  She was so proud of herself, and so was the entire class. 

Avielle has had a very hard month with her grief.  I am watching her process through it and doing everything I can to help. So far, looking at pictures, using her new noise machine at bedtime and baths are helpful.  She is enjoying kids grief group and also her time with the therapist.  We all were so proud of her when she became a Yellow Belt in karate. She is having an excellent time learning and helping to teach the younger kids in her class.  Avi looks forward to worship on Wednesday Nights and time on the tree swing in the front yard.  I am thankful for those who call and FaceTime her, the support gets her through.

Benjamin is such a sweet kid.  He loves soccer and we've all been excited to be there to cheer him on.  The season will end this week and we're looking forward to celebrating him and his lil' teammates as they receive their medals. Ben also loves the park, playdates with friends, and Wednesday worship.  Although the night terrors have seemed to subside, he is still really having issues getting to sleep in spite of our routine.  This past weekend , he and I started reciting "Jesus loves me and is always with me", when he gets afraid at night. It helps some, but this part is hard for me. During prayer time he often asks God to bring his daddy back, "Because he was the best and my favorite." 

Elijah is really enjoying and excelling in Karate, we will be signing him up for the summer.  He and Max earned their orange belts this month and we were so proud!  Elijah is also loving the grief group and learning with his friends at Wednesday Worship. He's been having a better month regarding his grief and is communicating more. Looking at photos, telling stories, and planning to do things "like Dad" helps him to process.  Eli plays his tablet and uses his legos in his free time and is a great cook.  He also has an A average in his schoolwork. 

Christian is also really enjoying and excelling in Karate, he is often used to help demonstrate with the instructor.  He is a great help around the house and enjoys putting things together, including furniture. In his free time Max's been enjoying football games on the tablet, helping with the plants, and hanging with friends.  He even volunteered for the dunk tank at Wednesday Night Church.  He's mostly private with his grieving process but opens up at grief group, with the therapist and in our nightly emails.  Max excels in his schoolwork, especially Math and Reading and has an A average. 

Amira is getting big and has a vast vocabulary. She's an excellent little helper and loves following her big brother Benji around.  She loves going out to the tree swing and trying on everyone's shoes.  Amira loves the band, For King & Country, and sings along to all of their songs.  

Kendall has been coming in clutch as the babysitter for short errands.  She's also been helping prepare dinner, and so far, her red beans & rice with shrimp has been a family hit! Kendall is an A student and is excelling in her studies especially Math and Science.  She enjoys Youth Group, lunch with friends and even got an opportunity to volunteer with the toddlers at church on Easter.  Kendall is looking forward to playing soccer in the fall.  She is such a beautiful young lady and a great artist. She is always finding the light and sharing fun stories about her Dad. 

Me: Last fall, I started my journey as a Notary Public.  This month, I was able to meet with and receive training from an industry professional.  It was good to learn something new and it brought me joy. It was refreshing.  I did many, many hard things this month, including attending a class specifically for loss of spouses. I have felt physical pain this month due to the separation of the team of us,"Pat N' Keisha". It has been brutal. BRUTAL.  

Grief Group for Kids-Niche Ministry

My cousin Jaz called and said, "The Kids told me they had FUN at grief therapy, and it threw me off.  I mean, I was glad but also confused at how fun and grief could go together!" This is when I knew, we had found something good, something safe. 

Shortly after everything happened, a community leader and friend of ours sent over information for grief counseling.  At that time, I wasn't prepared to set it up and was still feeling out our need.  After reaching out to several providers on the list, I realized that finding grief counseling and specifically counseling for kids was going to be a headache in itself. I would have to psych myself up just to dive in and make all of the calls, send all of the emails and subsequently endure the let downs of "So sorry, we're only doing video meetings in your area." After losing such a huge presence in our family, physically, spiritually and mentally, we knew that talking to a computer wasn't going to cut it.

Those first couple months were brutal, and the strugglebus is STILL parked out front. I knew that I needed to build in as much help as possible if we were to survive this blow.  After I completed the paperwork, Susan called me and notified me that there were openings for groups at the church less than five minutes from our home.  Thankful for God's favor, we scheduled to be there in attendance and on time. 

Finding Suncoast kids was a relieving and heartwarming experience.  The ministry is a part of a church in Lutz that mobilizes and sets up in Brandon to provide peer groups for kids.  When we walked in for the first time, we were welcomed with a palpable and somber "we get it, you're safe here."  Although I was super sad at the thought of a group of hurting kids, my heart was blessed to know that there were counselors, caregivers, and administrators living out their Godly purpose of pouring into children who are dealing with significant loss.  This is what we call ministering in the margins. Finding a unique group of people who may feel unseen or misunderstood and coordinating efforts around ministering to and encouraging them. 

 In our friend and family circle, my children are the only children they know without a dad. Even typing that is just excruciating. So, to know that they can go to a group of their peers who are also experiencing a similar loss is helpful. The program doesn't attempt to paint over their grief with fun activities and distractions, but it does provide a place for them to embrace the loss, work through it and learn coping skills to help.  It provides them a safe place to be uniquely cared for while giving them something to look forward to.  

When I first called Suncoast Kids for help, we were placed on a waiting list. A waiting list. I couldn’t even process the disappointment nor the fact that there was a waiting list of children in need of grief care. Everyone is a volunteer and no family is charged a fee for these services. They have groups for children from Kindergarten through High School.   I would love for them to be able to expand and offer play therapy for the little tinies. Watching and listening to my three year old as he processes through this loss is something that I have no words for. I do know that whenever I get over or through this rough patch,  I promised them that I would support them in any way possible for all that they've poured out into my family alone. 

• Max enjoys the projects, collages, and the new therapy Dog, Guiness.
• Kendall appreciates the commitment and compassion of the volunteers.
• Elijah enjoys meeting new friends and getting the grief out
• Joy & Avielle like story time, being able to talk about their person and snack time.
• At the end of the group session, they all light candles for the person they've lost. 

Get Involved — Suncoast Kids Place

Donate — Suncoast Kids Place

At Risk Kids | Bay Hope Church

Joy Riding a Pony at Bay Hope's Easter Extravaganza 

Keep The Flowers Comin'

On our first Valentine's Day as a married couple, I remember seeing the florist walk through the parking lot with two beautiful bouquets of red roses. I thought possibly, he had a few deliveries to make. Nope. Patrick sent me two dozen roses for the special occasion. When I called to thank him, I asked "Why two, babe?" He said, "because everyone is going to get at least one, but you're extra special and I want that to be known." He was a hopeless romantic, me...not so much. But it was truly enchanting to see his love for me on display, constantly.  For the rest of our marriage, I would continue to be showered with roses not only on holidays, but on those "just because I went to Sam's Club" occasions as well.

The next day after I shared of Patrick's promotion to heaven, the flowers began pouring in. My cousin RiShard sent the first beautiful delivery. Every day leading up to the services, flowers were delivered from near and far.  For Christmas, we received flowers. My birthday, New Year's Eve, more flowers. Valentine's Day/Avielle's birthday, still more blossoming flowers.  A couple of weeks ago, I saw some gorgeous tulips in the supermarket and just had to grab them.  For Joy's Birthday, more fresh, fragrant flowers.

This past struggly Saturday, we hurried and got dressed to head to my sister's for brunch. On our way, I saw a huge sign that read "Plant Sale." I felt the most genuine, yet foreign, smile spread across my face.  Seeing those vivid, green, living things made my heart happy. The kids saw my reaction and encouraged me to stop and shop, and I did. 

A family friend caught up with me and asked, "What do you need? I wanted to send you flowers but is that cliche?" I replied, "Send the flowers, please." Any living, vibrant, fragrant delivery spurred by the thoughtfulness of others during this time of seemingly unrelenting shock and sadness is welcome. And Perfect. 

The Bittersweet-ness of Wins: Surviving Birthday #2

Yesterday, we survived another birthday and major holiday inside our new reality. The entire day, I was completely off. I felt like I was moving in slow motion... Like my feet were stuck.  My aunt texted to check on us that morning and I remember replying "Today hurts."  In spite of how I was feeling, I was happy to see that Joy was excited about celebrating her day. There were some beautiful moments on yesterday and I counted the many blessings.  It's because of those blessings and the obedience of God‘s people that we were able to persist and ultimately sustain the blows that came after the celebration.

So here's the sweet:

• Some good friends in ministry hosted and served us for a special birthday breakfast in Joy's honor. It was humbling and a great start to the day. We all felt so loved. 
• My Sister showed up with hugs and decorations in tow to make Joy's Day Special
• Another friend found a space in her day to have coffee in the car with me & catch up
• Some of our favorite family came into town and we shared laughs, hugs, and celebrated Joy
• Kind friends stopped by, called, emailed and video-messaged birthday wishes and sent awesome gifts for Joy
• Awesome friends stopped by and prepared a homemade taco bar for our family to enjoy for Joy's Special Birthday Dinner & hung a cool tree swing that the kids can't wait to use

Here's the bitter:

After all of the beautiful things that happened yesterday, and we experienced gobs of God's grace, my birthday girl  screamed and cried herself to sleep. She wanted her Daddy. Even the good things remind us that something, someone is missing.  My fourth child had a raw, gut-wrenching hour of grief with a hurt in her heart that I couldn't soothe. Questions that I couldn't answer.  My third child struggled to find enough peace to even fall asleep. Thankfully, God sent a song and a scripture for me to share. It didn't take away their pain, nor mine. But,  I did what I knew to do.   My baby boy sat through wailing from his sisters which in turn caused him to toss and turn in his sleep in addition to the night terrors he's been having.  The baby would cry when l put her down and wanted to sleep in my arms.  Thankfully the other kiddos were able to get some rest after all of the chaos, but  I wonder what enduring something like that does to their little hearts..  I have no doubt that they have the supernatural favor of God on their lives and that he will bring them through this and somehow use it for his glory but this utterly sucks. My constant prayer for them is "God, preserve and prosper their faith. You're the only One who can."

ReplyForward

Karaoke

 I knew I needed to post something. But I couldn't get deep and heavy as it's been a lot going on. Nothing that I feel ready to share just yet. So, I'm choosing the "story route". 

I pulled up my google photos to search for pics of Joy as her birthday is coming up on Good Friday.  As I scrolled to Jan 1,2021, there were a few videos of Patrick with a mic in his hand. I remembered how we did family karaoke on New Year's Day, as part two of my birthday celebration which was New Year's Eve. I remember it vividly, but it seems so long ago.  He and the kids had a blast singing and debating which Disney song was best.

Earlier this week, I was telling the kids about the concert that Patrick gave me in our old living room.  Thanks to our good friend George, Patrick had a mic, a stand, a speaker and a full list of Blackstreet, Tyrese, and Boys II Men tunes on a playlist.  He put the kids to bed, came downstairs dressed up, and gave me a full on concert. I loved every minute of it. I laughed and sang along, as the kids peered over the banister to see what was going. 

Every single part of our lives together was a song.

The Bittersweet-ness of Wins

 As we walked in the door from Benjamin's soccer practice, I was in a surprisingly pleasant mood.  My plan was to sit down and blog about the wins of this day. Because let's be honest, this is sad. Brutally sad. So, I can't help but want to be able to encourage and give some glimmer of hope and beauty in every situation.  We made it through the day, it was 7pm and we had avoided any major meltdowns.  Benji started off slow at soccer. For the first time, he didn't want to leave my side. Before he went down for nap, he told me that he wanted to go back to our old house.  I believe that he was expressing that he wanted to go back to normal, and wholeness as he knew it.  We often look at photos, and last night we found a video of our family playing charades in the old house. All of us could be heard...every voice.  The loudest and most resonating being Patrick's.  It's funny how children even as young as Benji can associate things.  If we weren't in this house, bad things wouldn't have happened. Let's go back to the photos, where Daddy is.

Getting back to the story; I came in ready to cook and celebrate Benji pulling through during the soccer scrimmage as Avielle stayed close on the sidelines cheering him on.  I looked up and saw her eyes welling up with tears. Tears turned into crying, crying turned into screaming "I want him BACK, I want Daddy." My heart is already shattered, and in this moment, in it's place was just a stony space.  I was angry. Angry that I couldn't give her what she was asking for.  Angry that God had the power to give him back but is choosing not to.  Little girls deserve their Dad. Especially when they had the very best.  My sister was here to help comfort Avi. One by one, the siblings came over to hug or encourage her.  After about twenty minutes, Joy came over with the piano and Avielle started playing. I heard music, then laughter, then they all started to dance. I want to make sure to say this :THANK YOU TO EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO IS PRAYING TO THE MOST HIGH GOD ON OUR BEHALF. THESE TESTIMONIES ARE POSSIBLE BECAUSE OF YOUR UNRELENTING LOVE AND PETITIONS.

So here are the wins:

This morning, we all slept in and then hurried out of the house for breakfast. Mondays are  brutal so I had to be proactive and switch up the plan, so we headed to the playground after that.  As the kids played I walked around I was contemplating  "what is this supposed to look like?"  Then, an angel of a human sent me the publishing proof of Patrick's soon-to-be released devotional. I saw light. For the first time, the very first time in all of this darkness, I saw light.  To see this work come to life was the brightest spot in my day for as long as I can remember.  About an hour later, some good friends stopped by with lunch and much needed hugs. We also got to share with them that Max and Eli were promoted in Martial Arts to their yellow belts this weekend. The boys were elated and had worked so hard, but the best compliment came from their instructor on Saturday: 

 "They did really really well and I am very impressed with them.  Not only are they very smart and fast learners and are athletically gifted, but they have really good character.  I asked them to work with the two little new white-belt girls yesterday before class started while I handled other things and I was happy and impressed with how mature and kind they were with the girls."