We usually spend evenings around the fire pit out back this time of year but that's definately been hampered by the weather. It rained Halloween but Amber was still able to get a good bit of trick-or-treating in before it got too heavy. We drove to Hillsboro, NJ to see my friend Jenn and family. Holiday planning and celebrating is definately Jenn's forte and we're always happy to join them for the holidays. Here's some pics of the kids, the merry ghosts and Jenn's seasonal tree...
September brought both a happy celebration (a baby shower) for a dear friend's daughter and a tragic accident and subsequent passing of same dear friend's son, both events within days of each other. I've known Terri since middle school. She married her high school sweetheart Tom and together they had three beautiful children, Thomas, Michelle and Kristopher (all adults now). Their daughter Michelle was the flowergirl in our wedding and as you can see from the pics was cute as all get out. Her beautiful baby arrived in October and she so sweetly named him after her brother ... Thomas Evan.
Thomas (their son) and his fiance' had just moved to Florida a few weeks before his injury. The family is very loving and close and it saddens me so much to know the loss they're bearing but fortunately, I know they also have an incredible, enviable and very large network of support via friends, coworkers and family. A benefit will be held in Tom's honor the day after Thanksgiving, to support Mothers Against Brain Injuries, a group in Florida that provided much needed and much appreciated support to the family during Tom's final days in the hospital.
I found a memorial plaque from BereavementStore.com with a beautiful poem that I thought was so fitting for this exceptionally, close-knit family. It's called The Broken Chain.
"We little knew that morning that God was going to call your name. In life we loved you dearly, in death we do the same. It broke our hearts to lose you, you did not go alone; for part of us went with you the day God called you home. You left us peaceful memories, your love is still our guide, and though we cannot see you, you are always by our side. Our family chain is broken and nothing seems the same, but as God calls us one by one, the chain will link again."
Rest in peace Thomas and God Bless the Britton's as they navigate through this difficult time.
