Some Thoughts on the 27th of May

Some thoughts on the 27th of May

This has been a crazy, busy week at our house. Last Saturday, our daughter Sarah gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. Sarah is staying with us while her husband, Charles, is deployed on the USS Eisenhower. Our other daughter, Maria was her birth coach and I have to say, I have never been more proud of my girls. They are great, strong, beautiful, kind and caring women.

Tonight was my piano students’ annual concert. And it went well….the little guys climbed up on stage, on their stools and played. The older kids (and by this I mean 8 and 9 year olds) performed wonderfully and joyfully. They also made me proud.

And in the middle of this week, on this day came May 27th. May 27th is the day that, 18 years ago, my son Jeremy died when he was hit by a car while riding his bike around the corner from our house. He was 6 years old.

When you lose someone, dates are powerful; even 18 years later I am struck by the power by May 27th. Everything in my life changed after that day. It was not long before my marriage fell apart and I found myself, while still grieving, a single mom of a teenage girl and young son.

Today, on this May 27th, I find myself, above all other emotions, feeling very grateful. After his death, Jeremy’s teacher wrote, “some would give anything, even their own lives, for 6 years of joy with such a child.” I miss Jeremy still, but at the same time the years have helped me concentrate on his life and the great blessing that it was, rather than the great tragedy of his death. I was blessed to be his Mom.

I am also grateful for my other children. For Maria, whose loving, nurturing nature is so beautiful. For Ryan, teller of great stories, whose heart is so much like my own. For Seth, so thoughtful and determined. For Sarah, so brave as she adjusts to life as a new Mom with her husband so far away. I love how they love one another. I am so thankful for their presence in my everyday.

I am so blessed by marriage to such a kind, generous, wonderful man.

It’s true it all fell apart….18 years ago today. But somehow all the pieces are so invaluable. So sweet. And I am grateful for each piece.

Jeremy…sweet boy of mine. I miss you still and always. Heaven draws nearer every day.


Can I, who have of others oft compil’d
The songs of death, forget my sweetest child…..

Dear Lord, receive my son, whose winning love
To me was like a friendship, far above
The course of nature or his tender age;
Whose looks could all my bitter griefs assuage:
Let his pure soul, ordain’d seven years to be
In that frail body which was part of me,
Remain my pledge in Heav’n, as sent to show
How to this port at every step I go.

(by Sir John Beaumont 1583-1627)