Oct 11, 2009
Felicity's 2nd birthday (mostly in pictures).
On September 22, we marked Felicity’s second birthday. We don’t do anything extravagant, just things that recognize the significance of the day in our hearts.
At the cemetery Abraham and I try to give each other a few minutes of peace and reflection while we alternate caring for the other kids.
Morrow was alert and aware of his surroundings this year, as opposed to last year when he was one month old. At thirteen months he’s a busy one! He enjoyed the birthday balloon the best, more specifically bopping his brother.
And he enjoyed crawling all over the cemetery (note the filthy knees). He eventually found some goose poop on a veteran’s grave and decided to give it a taste. Abraham used most of a bottle of water trying to flush his mouth, hence the soaked shirt.
My girlfriends had already brought some of these flowers. It was like a welcome banner for us. And it meant a lot to know that they’d been there.
Orison really likes to take pictures, so here’s one he snapped of the rest of us:
Orison kept himself very busy while we were there. He often brings his bike to the cemetery, but this time he had no training wheels! He hadn’t exactly gotten the hang of it until this day, so bad mommy didn’t even bring his helmet (I totally wasn’t expecting him to get it!)
It truly was a special gift from the Lord to have something to celebrate through our tears. I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience or something while I watched him—how did I get here? how did he get to be so old? how is it that he’s taking this huge step of independence right before my eyes?
It felt like a launching forward.
Happy birthday, Felicity Margaret. We miss you.
So beautiful, and how wonderful to remember Felicity’s 2nd Heaven Day as the day that Orison rode his bike without training wheels. So special that your friends remembered Felicity’s birthday and you were greeted with beautiful flowers.
My dear pastor who died this past year would have called your circumstances a frowning providence, but oh the opportunities to minister to others and the joy that God is able to grant us, in abundance, as we trust the God we love. He is worthy of our trust. I pray that God gives you and your family grace in abundance in the days ahead.
May God continue to give you joyful moments with your family as you persevere.
i just had one of those strange moments where you laugh and weep at the exact same time and neither emotion wins.
love you.
ditto. felicity. orison. the music. the goose poop. morrow. you and abraham. the bike success. your visit to the cemetery is such a picture of the layers of life that are going on continually…the joy, the sorrow, the comedy, the tears, the irony, the love, the hurt…all at once…all the time…
[...] Molly writes about how, on Felicity’s second birthday, Orison learned (and failed a bit) to ride a 2-wheeler: [...]
How special that your friends went before you and *welcomed* you that day! Grady’s heaven day is coming and I’m afraid I’m going to be the only one who remembers. Thanks for sharing these pictures!
Thanks also for visiting my blog and *validating* my subconscious grieving. Today marks 11 months that I know he went to be with Jesus. He wasn’t born until the 12th but he stopped moving on the 11th. I almost did the *ugly* cry in church! I honestly don’t know where I’d be without the cross….
Love,
Tonya
I miss her, too.
Oh, and can I just say that not only can Orison ride his bike by himself, but he can take one good centered picture.
I love you and I love our little Felicity girl…
Tears & prayers for you tonight, Molly. Thank you for sharing the pictures–and little stories–with us.
Love to you~
Debby
Oh Molly……..
Just listened to Sam Storm’s talk at the Calvin conference and when he talked about the “felicity that awaits us in heaven and oh, how sweet it is to contemplate the splendor in heaven that enables us to endure our suffering”, I thought of you. Her name is SO perfect. She helps me to remember to” raise my mind to heaven and contemplate the vast grounds of joy which dispels sadness.”
I also think of your Felicity and of heaven when I hear her name. We may not be able to see her, but she still touches our lives…
Oh, and it SO precious that Orison learned to ride his bike near to Felicity.
Happy birthday Felicity — I look forward to celebrating our shared birthday together in heaven sometimes. It will be fun to meet you — once I can get to you after all your family spends a REALLY long time with you after we all get there! I hope Jesus takes us really soon!
P.S. Molly, I didn’t see there was a video on my “reader” at first — that little boy is SO stinkin’ cute! Both of them are. I’m glad there were some joys in your day.
Isn’t it amazing how grief + joy are bound up together? Such a beautiful tribute to Felicity. Thank you for sharing it.
p.s. the twins watched Orison’s video with me and when it was done Jorie shouted: “AGAIN! BIKE! AGAIN!”
We watched Orison ride his bike again. And when he fell, Jorie said: “Owies. oooooo.”
Just thought I’d share that Orison has a little admirer over here. :)
God is good to us! Thank you for sharing this lovely bit of your life with us!
Molly,
Your (and Abraham’s) strength is amazing. I really admire you both. By the way, I think you two are awesome parents. My husband and I don’t have any children yet, but we like to learn parenting from other worthy sources. Yours and Abraham’s top our list.
that is amazing.. love it that your friends brought flowers to felicity’s grave. If my friends did that for simeon, i was melt! what great friends!
Thanks for sharing such a special moment. What a gift you received as your family remembered your Felicity!
Laughing and crying with you, Molly. Look forward to meeting Felicity one day.
Is it inapropriate to say “Oh, Morrow’s hair is gorgeous!!!” in the midst of this? I love him and want to squeeze him. What beautiful pictures, Molly.
Thank you for inviting us in to these little moments of your life. I think you are mourning and celebrating Felicity with such grace. I miss her and I miss you.
PS – O is a rock star, as I always knew he would be. What a great photographer.
I think it is wonderful that your friends brought flowers to Felicity’s grave before you went. That really really touched me. Good friends…
Such a sweet tribute Orison gave.
I don’t know you and certainly don’t have any appropriate words to share with you on a post like this one… but I just wanted to let you know that I am praying for your family and my heart aches for you. Thank you for sharing your true self with us as you walk the road God has laid out for you, joys and trials and suffering. I pray that He blesses you and your family in the midst of your grief. You are a blessing to me as I read your words.
Happy birthday to your sweet girl.
Crying and celebrating with you…
“It truly was a special gift from the Lord to have something to celebrate through our tears.” God is so faithful and his timing is perfect.
It looks like a beautiful day… I have to tell you that seeing your 4 year old take off and wipe out like that just brought a smile to my face… not the wipe out part, but you know what I mean. Just precious. Molly, your blog has been such an inspiration to me. I loved your post about your friend giving you the book, but reading it first. How special, what a loving friend. Thanks for your posts, for being real and honest… I long for Heaven with you, when all things will be made right!
Sara
Can you believe I actually found myself crying over your sons victory of no training wheels? SERIOUSLY! that video spoke so many words. LIfe doesn’t stop even though sometimes our heart does. Isn’t it wonderful how much Grace God pours on us when we need it the most.
A sorrowful, remembering time looked like it was helped with a joyful, happy moment when your son was riding his bike.
So thankful in my life for those joyous times.
thanks for sharing
We miss you, Felicity. Happy birthday.
Hi Molly,
Thanks for letting me know that my children are not the only ones who mess up other peoples graves… :)
We lost our babygirl on june 1st.
Thank you for sharing your heart and feelings. I do pick up lots of books and blogs about grieve. But your one feels different.
If you want to: you can read our daughter’s story on our website. She’s called Hannah.
With love and prayer,
Annemieke
Thank you for sharing~sure enjoyed the pictures and video. Been praying for you and will continue to. Beautiful family!
Hi Molly,
As a Dad with two teenagers I can recommend two things regarding Orison’s bike riding. The missing helmet you already mentioned and I strongly suggest that wearing it be a very firm rule from now on because as he ages and becomes more sensitive to what others think (peer pressure ..) he may (like many kids) start to think that helmets are not cool. Wearing it consistently will help him feel very natural when wearing it. And that something very important is missing when he’s not. This will help inoculate him against future peer pressure etc…
On a more minor note, sandals (all open toed shoes) are not a good idea for bike riding (the voice of experience here…)!
May God bless you and keep you on your up-coming trip!
In Christ,
Dan…