Today, I deleted Annette's cell phone number from my cell phone. It's the first number I see (Annette starts with "A") when I scroll down through my numbers. I've been debating about doing that for almost a year. This week, I felt it was time and I felt ready to do it.

Ouch.

A New Direction

Thank you for your comments. A new plan is formulating in my head after some inspiration at a meeting yesterday. Stay tuned for more details! But for now, my priority is report cards and house cleaning-my 2 favourite ways to spend the weekend!
Peace and Love,
Lisa

Ah... the things I can find to do when I should be working on report cards!

We had our first snowfall this week. It was very pretty and a stark reminder that winter is upon us! It also made me miss the warm days of summer... swimming, outings, fun! I hadn't posted any pictures yet, because of my camera issues, but I managed to get them onto my computer for sharing.

My new blog title will be revealed sometime soon, perhaps this week! Keep watching...

Where do I go from here?

I've wondered lately what to do with this blog. Many of you started reading to keep up with what was happening with Annette and her treatments. Many of you enjoyed hearing stories of things that she was passionate about: her children, Down Syndrome, respectful treatment for all people. Now she is gone. It is not my blog. I have been posting and many of you have commented that you like hearing from our family. I am happy to post. But it begs the question of where do I go from here? Do I make this my blog? Do I keep this blog for updates on Annette and Tom's kids and family and start my own new blog? Do I share only stories from the past? Do I share stories about myself even though many of you only know me through this blog? Should I change the name? I tumble these ideas around in my mind, but don't know the answer to these questions. I will continue to ponder...

News Clip

We are so very proud of Annette's work in bringing the Buddy Walk to southern Ontario. Click here to see the news clip from our walk on Sunday. The spokesperson reporting on the attendance and amount raised is Annette's dear friend, Susan.

PS: While the clip was well done, they missed the boat in saying that it is a disease, while in fact it is a syndrome.

Cake, flowers and sneakers.

Today was another bittersweet day. Today is Annette's birthday. Forty-two years ago, she was born. (Here we are at Annette's 40th birthday, two years ago, the day after Mom's funeral) We all headed to Tom's to spend the day together. First, was a memorial service at church for all the people who have died in the last year. This is the church associated with the boys' school. It is not the church that Tom, Annette and the boys go to, but it was nice to go nonetheless. Tom carried a candle in to church and put it at the front with all the others.

We then went to the cemetary to place flowers on her gravesite. I hadn't seen her headstone yet. It was difficult to see her name and dates carved in marble. It is a beautiful stone that Annette picked out herself. It brought so many memories and feelings to surface again and we had a good cry.

After a quick lunch (including a birthday cake with candles to blow out), we laced up our sneakers and headed to the Buddy Walk. This is an annual event that raises awareness and money for those with Down Syndrome and the Down Syndrome Society. We have attended every walk since it began in their area. This was the 7th walk. What made is especially bittersweet was that Annette was responsible for bringing the walk to this area (and possibly Canada?). She has many internet friends, and through them, she learned about National Buddy Walks that happen in cities all over America. She worked hard to bring the Buddy Walk to her area. It started as a somewhat small event in 2002. This year, there were over 450 people and they raised over $28 000. Wow. It was wonderful to be there again and see the fruit of Annette's (and many others along the way, of course) labour. Annette's good friend, who spoke for the board, remembered her in her comments. They had photo albums of all the Buddy Walks thus far. Annette was in so many of them because of her primary involvement. It was hard to look at her so healthy and vibrant. It was great to see her looking so healthy and vibrant.

The walk has grown immensely from it's modest beginning 6 years ago. Ever modest Annette didn't take any credit for her hard work. Many people there today probably didn't know Annette. At first, that made me a little sad. But then I realized that Annette would have loved just that. The awareness and the event has become so large that it has taken on a life of its own. It has had to change venues 4 times to hold the ever increasing crowd. She would be smiling ear to ear. Through my tears, I tried to smile for that, too.