July 24th-26th we spent the weekend at Glen Eryie's beautiful historic castle here in Colorado Springs. We are quite embarrassed that we did not even know that this was in Colorado Springs. For all of you that have not been to the Navigator's Glen Eryie~this is a must see. Plan time to get around and hike and enjoy the beautiful surroundings.
The weekend was for couples who had lost their children. The conference was brought to our attention by my fabulous nurse Cindy Ii, who many of you know came back to assist me in delivering Sterling Michael after she was off work. She then took the time to care, bathe and dress our precious son. She and I have kept in contact and she means sooo much to me.
The conference was good and very beneficial for Aaron and I to go to. Not only was it healing for us individually but, us as a couple. It gave us the opportunity to discuss and share our feelings, fears and many other emotions. The best thing about this group was their willing to embrace everyone no matter how different our situations are. There were no hidden agendas, no trying to impress one another and it was a great weekend for us to just be ourselves, be open and honest. We took information from each of the couples as they shared their stories and even cried with them. All of these people are strong and I am honored that we were able to share this time together. Of course, I wish we did not have to at all. But, who would?
The picture of the butterfly is so special/humorous to me. I was in the gift shop looking around and I came across some cards with different pics. of Glen Eryie. I loved the cards and wondered if I could take the same pics. I knew that I could try but, I really wanted a pic. of a butterfly and was a little disappointed knowing that I may not get that photo. Later in the day we had a tour of the castle to learn about the history of the castle and then Aaron and I continued exploring after the tour. After we were done I was going out of the castle and I came across a butterfly looking exactly like this and I was so excited. Aaron was a little confused (which makes me laugh) because I was sooo excited! I then informed him of my gift shop visit and then he understood. He still did not understand the full meaning of my excitement but, that is okay~I'm very hard to figure out these days. I don't understand myself sometimes.
The picture of the rocks and branch was on the last day we all found a rock/branch that reminded us of our child/children/journey that we brought to our group to share stories about. The stories were so amazing. Then we all laid cards inside of something that we needed to let go of. This was very moving and beautiful.
I will have more pics to post but, I need to get them developed. These pics were taken by Jay and Lisa and they did an amazing job!