Robert Wright
I can’t believe the HPE conference is only 2 weeks away! I can’t wait to see some of my buddies–especially my friend Mr. Robert Wright. Of course, the conference will be bittersweet without Sammy here, but Sammy would want me to go to the conference and give away some of my extra love to the other kids and families who need a little HoPE. I’m up for the task.
Yes, I know. It’s been a very long time since I’ve written anything. There are some days when I have something to say, but no time to write; other days when I have time to write something, but don’t know what I want to say. So I have decided to say something about saying nothing.
When Steve and I were married in 1995, one of the popular songs at the time was a remake of a Keith Whitley song, “When You Say Nothing At All”. In 2003, when Sammy came into our lives and we learned that he might never learn to speak, the words of that song took on an entirely new meaning to me. Today, when I don’t have anything to say or don’t know what to say, I think of Sammy and the conversations he and I shared without any words.
I’ve been told that grief comes in waves, and I can testify to that. There are days when it just laps at my feet, but there are others when a wave catches me off guard and knocks me off my feet. This holiday weekend brought a tidal wave, and I wasn’t expecting it. Throughout the weekend, I found myself remembering how we spent the 4th of July with Sammy through the years. (And, you can read the record of those years documented on this site.) On Sammy’s first 4th of July, we sat at his bedside in the NICU while he recovered from the surgery to receive his tracheostomy.
Sammy Yammy and HoPE 