Watching Bill tonight made me think back to how my hubby handled himself during our most difficult times. He was my strength, no doubt about it. I was completely dysfunctional and unable to think. I could really only bring myself to sit and cry. In fact, the week between getting the fatal diagnosis and my surgery is a complete blur. I remember nothing but thinking I couldn't possibly have another tear to shed only to be proven wrong. In contrast, I don't think hubby shed a tear until around mid-December. For all I know he was crying in the shower every night, but I never saw him face it until well after we got the news that the baby's condition was not genetic and we knew "everything would be okay." Tonight, watching the sadness in Bill's eyes I thought about what it must've been like for hubby to try to stay strong all while dealing with the emotion of losing his first baby and watching his wife go through a difficult surgery. To this day, I don't know how he held it together but I'm thankful he did. And hunni, if you're reading this....regardless of what you say....I know you'd walk to the edge of the ocean. I love you.
G's mom cracks me up. I lost count how many times Mama DePandi tried to feed Giuliana. Just like G's mom, my mom came racing to my side the day we found out about the baby. She was amazing. She gave me my space without ever making me feel alone. She supported me in the way she knew I needed her to...from a distance. I hated telling my mom that the grand-baby she has longed for since I married the hubby wasn't coming. It really broke my heart and there were times I was more upset for her than I was for us. As broken as her heart was (and is) she never, not once, made me feel badly about choosing to terminate. She supported our decision from the second we shared it and never wavered from her position that this was our family and she was there for us. Her hugs dried my tears. I'm 31-years-old and those hugs have dried A LOT of tears. For that, I will forever be thankful and grateful. She really is "Somebody's Hero."
Tonight, we also go to see some of G's friends. We saw her friends lifting her up and making her smile. It brought a tear to my eye because sometimes I feel like I didn't have that. Our situation was tough and not many people knew what to say. For fear of saying the wrong thing, they just didn't say anything at all. At points, I felt pretty alone. I felt judged. I wanted to reach out but I knew that people were uncomfortable facing the reality of what we were going through. Hell, I was uncomfortable facing the reality. It's weird, while a part of me wishes that people had reached out to me, there is another part of me is thankful that I had the time to deal with this alone. I'm a pretty independent person and I did appreciate being along with my thoughts, as scattered as they were.
There are friends who I expected to be there for me that I feel like weren't. There are people that I never expected to stand so unconditionally by my side and did. There are some people with whom I haven't spoken since everything "went down." There are people that are still afraid to talk about it. In the beginning I felt sad about that, sad about losing friends over something so personally tragic. I'm okay with it now. I don't hate anyone and I'm not upset with anyone. This was tough for everyone involved, directly and indirectly, and I understand that it may have just been too much for some to bear. We all deal with things differently. Supported or not, I have never felt abandoned and that is what is most important.
Anyway, I've been feeling emotional lately and just wanted to get this all out. I really don't know where I'd be mentally if it weren't for this blog. So, thanks for reading!
