A Walk for Hope

Last Saturday, Patrick and I went down to Milwaukee's lakefront and walked beside other families that had lost a child.  This event was created and organized by a family that lost their precious Hannah, after only 6 days here on earth. To read more about their story: http://www.lifestorynet.com/memoryfolders/51945file3.pdf

It was a beautiful day, hot, but the sun was shining down as we introduced ourselves to other families, made t-shirts and photo buttons with our sweet boy's picture.

We were able to write messages to our children and tie them to a balloon that we all released at the same time.  This was the most emotional part for me.  Seeing all those balloons, and realizing that all those balloons were meant for the children that all left too soon was really difficult.  It's not fair.

I recently heard this song on the radio and burst into tears. These lyrics really stuck out: 

"These wounds won't seem to heal

This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase

When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me"




I miss you sweet boy, and I'll end with daddy's new slogan.  You're always on mind, forever in my heart.

Links because now, We're Famous! :)

I was recently interviewed on why I choose to donate my breast milk. You can see the article here: http://www.immb.org/immb-stories/jen-and-dylan-a-love-story/

From my post below you can see that we actually raised over $33,000 for March of Dimes and with my last couple donations, I actually donated over 2600 oz of milk. :) 

There are many ways to donate breast milk.  You can do want I did and go through a bank.  The banks screen the donors as well as test the milk.  A draw back or argument for this route is that the banks may charge people for the milk (generally a minimal fee and they do help with financially struggling families).  Another way is through local groups where a woman can post how much milk she has and where she is (location wise).  This way scares me a little, mainly because you need to trust that this person hasn't done anything to this milk that you are giving to your child, and you met them online for all of 30 seconds.  How do you know they didn't put anything in or that it really is breast milk? One advantage to this way? You might actually get to meet the baby and family that you are helping.  And I think that is pretty cool.  I will never know how many babies are being helped by Dylan's milk (I call it his since after all, he's the reason I was producing it!) and I will never get to meet them or tell them all about Dylan.

The other link is from our WKLH interview that we did during their Miracle Marathon, where a local radio station raises money for Children's Hospital of WI.  We shared our experiences with programs and staff at Children's, and how they were in fact the reason we were able to have those two wonderful months with our son.  That interview is found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tBS_b-S39Q

go back to being "normal"

Okay so yesterday I was at my mom's house for a sec, and she had the news on.  A reporter was talking about the poor families that have lost their belongings and their houses in CO, 

and she asks "how do they go back to normal"?

 The answer?? 

They don't.  

How can they possibly go back to "normal"? Their lives have been turned inside out and outside down.  And then I realized, people might actually be thinking this in regards to parents like Patrick and I.

We will never be the people we were before, won't happen. Dylan has changed our lives and I don't want to "go back" because that would be like acting as if he never existed, and why in the world would I ever want to feel that way??

I recently had dinner with a friend of mine from high school and she asked what to say (in similar situations to ours).  

Are you listening?  

Because this is important

The age old "If you don't have anything nice to say yada yada" doesn't fit here. 

If you say NOTHING, it's like you're not there, or you're avoiding us. 

If you can't think of anything, say "I'm sorry" and give them a hug.

Invite them over for dinner and show them that you care.

Doing nothing can actually hurt more than you would think. We've actually lost friends because they never contacted us after Dylan died. And it's true, you really learn who your friends are during a tragedy (as cliché as that sounds, its true).

Wow, I had a lot to say today! 

Devoted to Dylan is #9 in the country!!!!

We were recently notified that our March of Dimes team, Devoted to Dylan, was 9th in the country for funds raised!!! Thank you again to everyone that walked or donated to our team.  We love that we are able to honor Dylan, and are very proud of our accomplishment!!
Overall we raised $33,891!!!!

I also was able to get our first batch of Devoted to Dylan family packs made (and hopefully delivered today!) I have become a couponer and am loving getting great deals, but who needs 20 tubes of shampoo?!? So, I decided to make family care packs for the families at Children's hospital of WI.  We understand how difficult it is to be away from home and if your child is sick, harder to be away from them and their hospital room. We wanted to provide the families with some toilettes and additional goodies while away from home. We hope they can provide a little comfort.