IELEV8

Dear Mark, 

How can it be eight years that you’ve been gone? It feels like just yesterday and a lifetime ago all at once. Over the past several days, the events of that week have come flooding back into my memory like waves crashing against the shore. The blaring sound of the ambulance siren, the somber faces of the hospital staff who delivered the heart wrenching news, the devastation I felt as I laid on your chest in the final moments before saying goodbye to you; I recall these parts of my journey and feel tremendous sorrow. At times, it’s hard to believe that those events were real and not just part of some tragic movie that I watched. However, I’ve also been reflecting on the magnificent collection of moments that we shared together for twelve years before those fateful days. There was the sunrise we watched together by the north point tower, when my heart first realized it had found its home. There was the day we recited our vows on the beach in Mexico, hand in hand, with our family and friends cheering, hearts smiling. There were the breathtaking instants our babies were born, when we felt that intoxicating type of love that we wanted to bottle up and hang on to forever. And there were all of the other moments in between, both good and bad, that made up the voyage of “us.” I am so unbelievably grateful for all of it, Mark. You gave me so many extraordinary gifts throughout those twelve years, and aside from our three little birds, one of the most magical, remarkably, was just days before I lost you. Oh Mark, I love you and miss you tremendously but carry you with me always. Your heart will remain snugly inside of mine forever.