Love has no boundaries.......

Tonight my mom and sister came down to visit for the weekend. It sure feels good to have them here and have Owen get some lovin' from his Gramma Patsy and Auntie Marci - we have not seen them since Christmas. It also makes my heart hurt knowing there's someone missing when they come to visit. Braden was attached to Auntie Marci's hip when she came to visit - he would stand in his bed and call to her when he woke up. At the top of his lungs all you could here was, "Aaaaauntieeeee Marrrrrciiiiii, I'm uuup!" Even though we don't speak of this, I know they wear their pain so closely to their hearts. That's one hard lesson I've had to learn about grief. So many other people are grieving the loss of this little boy, yet I feel so wrapped up in my own grief, that I don't put myself in their shoes, wondering how they must be coping. B is not only our son, but a brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, and friend to so many. You would think that being so close to family and sharing such a similar loss, that we would talk about it more, but I guess we don't have to....we know....how it feels to laugh and cry in the same breath and question how it is we've "survived" this last year. I guess I can answer that we've survived it together, providing strength to each other, acknowledging each others pain (in our own special way), being gentle to one another, and allowing the tears to come and go as they so often do. Grief has no boundaries even though we try so hard to understand where the line is or should be drawn at times.