Friday, October 27, 2006

Flowers for a Friend

Orange = Alafoss Lopi dyed w/Kool-Aid; knit in simple increasing ruffle thing, then felted

Fall colors = Tahki Staci Charles Ritratto; crocheted (heresy, I know!) on size F hook; pattern is the “large rose” from the Anne Norling Kids’ Hats pattern where each one has a different flower on top.

Buttons courtesy of the LYS walking distance from my house.

Posted by erica at 23:19:48 | Permalink | No Comments »

Zee Chef

Uh…Thing Two, what are you doing?

I’m making my own cinnamon toast.  Can I?  I’ve never done it before.

Can you reach the toaster?

Sure. [Thing Two climbs up onto the smidgen of counter, gripping the freezer door handle as she plops the bread in the toaster, which sits atop the microwave.]

Uh…OK.

I think she likes sugar.  Do you agree?

You should have heard her while she was doing it.  She was having a blast:

Fuhst, you poot zee buttah…

Posted by erica at 19:57:16 | Permalink | Comments (3)

What Not to Say

As we near the end of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, here are some examples of what NOT to say to bereaved parents.  These are all actual examples of well-meaning but stupid things said to recently bereaved parents.

You’re young; you can always have more.  [Perhaps, but we want THAT one, the one who died.  NO person is a replacement for another.  For some of us, this isn't a possibility anyhow, due to tubes tied at delivery or medical issues.]

You can always adopt.  [See above.]

Well, that’s just nature’s way of weeding out the defective ones.  [Not said to me, but was said to my friend by her OB.]

Well, it’s probably better that it happened now, rather than later, when you had more memories.  [NO!  All I'll ever have of my child is memories and, b/c I'm one of the luckier ones, photographs.  I'd give my right arm to have five more minutes of memories with my son or to keep the ones I have from fading.]

I know just how you feel.  [NO, you don't.  Even if you've lost a child, each heart knows its own bitterness and no one else can share its joy.  This was spoken by a married guy w/no kids.  He meant well, but his wife knew it was a dumb thing to say and silence him with a "Honey..." and a hand on the arm.]

My wife [she was 8 1/2 months pregnant at the time] is going crazy.  Can you please talk to her for me?  [No joke, a friend of ours said this to me at church THE DAY AFTER my son died.  The day after.  Oh, and he did know that Paul died.  I truly do not know how I managed not to kill him.  I think I was just too emotionally shell-shocked at that point to react to him.]

I heard about your son, but I didn’t really understand what happened.  Did your wife drink when she was pregnant or something?  [I kid you not, one of Hubby's co-workers said that to Hubby.  I haven't met this guy.  I don't plan ever to meet him.  I don't know how I would react to him.]

 

Posted by erica at 03:58:19 | Permalink | Comments (4)