Want to know how I know?
First, see the post below this one.
Second, he's in bed next to me right now (yes, at 10:19 at night) just sobbing.
Third, about an hour ago he brought me two pieces of a wall plaque. This was his last gift from Grandma--the gift that he chose to open on Christmas Eve. It is a rustic piece of wood with barbed wire (minus the barbs) around it. Three painted boots, made of some sort of plastic, protrude from it, forming hooks for his backpack, hats, etc. Mom told me before she died, before Christmas, that she bought it because it matched his room and he didn't have anywhere to hang his stuff. She knew he wouldn't be excited about it, but she liked it and thought he needed it.
On Christmas Eve when he opened it, he was a bit disappointed with it. I mean, it wasn't a toy. We told him it was okay and that someday he would really like it (Grandma and GrandTom also gave Braden a tackle box, but that was a gift that I had picked out).
I saved the gift tag from mom's package because it was in her handwriting. A few days after Christmas, once things had calmed down a bit and we had a quiet moment, Braden and I carefully taped the tag onto the back of the wall hanging. We decided to hang it by his bed, and we talked about how special it was that Grandma had chosen it just for him.
Tonight, he told me that he took the plaque off the wall because he wanted to see the back. He wanted to see what Grandma had written to him. As he showed me the broken-off boot, he began crying because, as he said, "this is so special and it is broken."
It can be fixed with wood glue. I wish our hearts could be.
2 comments:
Well, now I'm sobbing! Poor baby!
That breaks my heart Erin--I can't imagine how you deal with those things each day--my prayers are with you and your family.
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