A long week

First off, thanks to everyone for their calls and emails. It has been one of the longest weeks of our lives. We still feel like we're living in a really bad dream. Alex is staying busy with his friends which is helping a lot. Keith and I are just still in shock, I think. None of it feels real.

The viewing was Thursday night and, as Sabrina would have liked, it was a time for everyone in Cornelia, GA to get together and see each other. There had to have been hundreds of people that came through to see the family. We had a back room for the kids to hang out and play in. I brought some games up (have you ever seen 15 year olds playing hungry, hungry hippo??) and being in that room you would never have been able to guess that Alex and Kaylee had lost their mom.

Friday was the funeral and it was perfect. The minister did an amazing job and the service ended with some Jimmy Buffet playing. It was the perfect ending to such a rough week. Both of her brothers spoke during the service and one brother talked about "signs". Signs that Sabrina is okay wherever she is. Kaylee and I were in Helen, GA on Wednesday and we walked into a little shop. Hanging right in front of us was one angel. It had "Kaylee" on the front of it - the only one of it's kind. Coincidence? Maybe, but I like to think it was Sabrina's way of telling Kaylee that she's doing okay. During the viewing, Keith went outside and looked up - there was a double rainbow. We brought the kids outside and Keith told us of a time when he and Sabrina were driving to the Florida Keys and they saw a double rainbow and how excited she was. Another sign to those kids that she's okay.

Her brother's have been rocks and are trying to put puzzle pieces together to figure out what is where. Alex is being asked a lot of tough questions because he would know where papers are kept and things like that. Kaylee seems to be hanging in there, but she is weighing very heavily on our hearts. We still don't know what happened and it will be a while, but it's time for Alex and Kaylee to get back on a schedule and do what they can to get back into their normal routine.

We have a tough few months coming up. Mother's Day, Sabrina's birthday, their grandparent's 50th anniversary and then there are the 3 weeks that Alex was supposed to spend with Sabrina. Thank goodness for football and friends. Speaking of friends - let me tell you how overwhelmed we were with all of the phone calls and text messages Alex received from friends at both GAC and his old school. Some of the boys from his new school (about an hour and 15 mins away from where we were) came to the visitation and to the funeral. One boy even missed his last lacrosse game to be with Alex. The team won the game 18-6 (or something like that) and they dedicated the game to Alex. Makes me cry each time I think of it. Even his principal came to the viewing.

I still wish that our phones would ring with her complaining about something, asking me to fax a schedule (again) or just to tell us she is running late (again). :-) I would deal with anything to the tenth degree if it meant giving those kids their mom back. I may not have ever realized how much a part of our lives Sabrina was until she was gone. I will honestly miss chatting with her on the phone about people I didn't even know and listening to her or meeting her at McDonald's to drop off Alex.

All we can do now is help Alex remember his mom and remind him how much he loved her. I know he'll have good days and bad and I know we will as well. Thanks again to everyone for their support. We have some of the best friends and family in the world and we love all of you.

The next time I post, we'll turn this blog back to it's regularly scheduled programming and try to turn it a bit more upbeat... there is still a little Russian peanut out there somewhere with our name on it!

Love,
Becky
P.S. Although not quite so happy of a day, Happy Birthday to me!