The Unexpected Teacher

We are back home in Seattle now. It has been a lot different, as you can imagine. I don't even know where to start with this post, but we want everyone to know how thankful we are for all the love, support, and prayers that have been sent our way. People have been so kind and it is very humbling. We left Spokane (where my parents live) last Monday to head to Wenatchee (where Eric's parents live) for the funeral which was to take place on Tuesday. There was a viewing on Monday evening and Eric's mom had made an outfit and blanket for Andrew to be buried in. Eric and his parents dressed Andrew and got him all ready. I knew that I wasn't going to be able to do that. I didn't think I would be able to see him, but once they had Andrew dressed, Eric and I took the opportunity to see him. Everything is still pretty unreal to me. While we were at the viewing we got a phone call from our case worker - we have worked with him for all of our adoptions. He told us that Andrew's Birth Mom had been checking our blog every other day since Andrew was born. She had wanted a closed adoption (she didn't want to see Andrew or meet us because it would be too hard for her). She had happened to move right before Andrew died, so she hadn't heard. So when our case worker called her, she had a really hard time. She decided to come out for Andrew's funeral, and we were really excited to meet her. She is so special to us, and she blessed us with being parents to a really special angel boy.

The funeral was Tuesday morning at 11 in Wenatchee. We both were planning on speaking. I was going to speak about Andrew and bear my testimony, and Eric was doing more of a doctrinal talk. That morning, Eric and I got blessings from our dads, and we were both blessed with many things, but especially comfort. I still can't believe the amount of comfort we were blessed with. Days before this, if I even saw Andrew's binky or blanket I would lose it, but I was so blessed with comfort this day. The Spirit really blessed Eric and me to feel peace and love.

A few days after Andrew died, I felt like I was forgetting things about him. I took a few hours one night and started typing all the things that I didn't want to forget. Andrew had such a fun/sweet personality, and I didn't want to forget anything. I ended up using that list for my talk. I love talking about Andrew, and I love it even more when people can share that love with us. Eric did an amazing job on his talk, and the music was awesome. The Spirit was really strong, and we really wanted to portray how grateful we were to have had such a special boy in our home for the last 14 months.

Andrew's birth mom came to the funeral but stayed out in the foyer. Eric went to invite her in and got to meet her. He said she looked a lot like Andrew. I wish I could've met her. I thought she was going to come in, and she ended up leaving before it finished, so I wasn't able to meet her. She left some things for Andrew at his grave. We are excited for the opportunity to be able to get to know her now. We are going to meet her this coming weekend.

After the funeral services, we went to the grave site, and Eric's dad dedicated the grave. The kids released balloons for Andrew. Then the family headed back to the church for a luncheon.

We are so grateful to everyone who made the effort to come to Andrew's funeral. We had a few great friends from our days in Pullman who came to support us. We had a lot of family travel across Montana, Idaho, and Utah to be there. Thank you!

Since Andrew died, whenever I have had a need or have thought of something that needed to get done, someone has always taken care of it for us. Eric's Dad took care of all of the funeral arrangements, my friend Tara did the program for the funeral, my friend Jennifer edited pictures and got them all ordered and framed for the funeral, Eric's mom made Andrew's burial clothes, my brother Tom has emailed us the right talk (by President Kimball) or said the right thing, Stacy Julian made us an amazing memory book, Stephanie Waite was so helpful and gave me hope, my parent's ward brought meal after meal, my mom's friend Whitney gave us tons of balloons for the gravesite, we have gotten cards and letters and messages from hundreds of people, and there are tons more people out there that have been an answer to our prayers.

Right after Andrew died, my mom had done all of his laundry and put his clothes away so we wouldn't have to worry about it. Getting home I found a basket of laundry that still had Andrew's dirty clothes in it. They still smelled like him. Oh, we miss him.

THE UNEXPECTED TEACHER

A baby, from unexpected circumstances,
teaches us humility.
A boy, with unexpected authority,
teaches us correct principles.
A man, through unexpected cruelty,
teaches us the true meaning of love.

An angel, from unexpected parents,
needed love upon this earth.
This angel, with unexpected timing,
finished his mission on the earth.
Our angel, through unexpected separation,
teaches us the greatest lesson of all...
To Depend Upon the Savior

Written by Jon Wilson (my brother)