The day started very, very early.. we woke around 3:30 AM and got on the road by 4. Our goal was to make a Father’s Forever group meeiting thatr started at 7:30 in Newton. Diane drove the enitre way while I slept (that you Diane !!!!)/ I woke up around 7 AM to see this glorious sunrise… Seeing the sunrise for me usually means I’ve stayed up too late. // not woken up early.
We went around the room, and told a little about ourselves. . our families and the child we’d lost. It felt so free to be able to talk to other folks in roughly the same situaaion that I’m in.. There were guys who were there 5-6 years after loosing there kid and there was one guy there who’d son had died of Luekmia in September We talked for 2. 5 houra about our families and kids, our communities, our path through healing, our greatest challenges. and about what we wanted to do as a group. Most folks agreed that just coming together was a great start, The storis from Herbert, me, Craig,Mike, Steve , Peter, Sala, Denis, Mark, Gus, David, Niel and our love of our kids Sam, Amelia, Charlotte, Jarred, Christopher, Kermim, Alex, Micah, Gus Jr Natasha, Derry were both unimaginable sad and uplifiting. I really resonated with these guys.. They all had such different stories I’ve never felt more connected to a group of random guys.
I really feel compelled to reach out to some of the guys in the group who don’t have much of a support group
There were so many common themes.. the way our loss had changed our lives: our thiking, our communities, our relationships. It was nice not feeling like talking about your loved lost cild was going to freak other folks out. We were all in the same strange space.
One really cool thing I notice was the similrity in the ways we chose to keep our lost kids close. I saw that many of us were wearing memorial bracelets of one form or another.
Ekizabeths from Levenworth Kansas.. it’s a big adjustement to Boston {
Her frisge reminded me of home
She had this great picture of her,eSam and her brother Michael. Made me happy to see it 
My dad an I went to the store.. We found this so I felt compelled to take a picture of ‘paw-paw’ with pa.
It wa great holding Jake.
Eventually beutiful ellery woke up too.
Here’s my mom …
And my dad. …
Around Sunset.. my mom lit the Chanukah candles
She relaized sh was using the last match form a book she’d pciked up at the htel when sthey were up for Sam’s memorial Service. That realization gave us all some good tears. 
My mom showed us some old things she’d kept inclufing my sister Mary’s old baby dolll… and 
My own sterling silver baby rattle. 
My folks had a ton of great sam and family pictes. Bother wonderful and hard to see. 
Ellory and I had some fun with soem of here disassembleable Barbi’s
-me