Tag Archives: sudden unexplained death

We have friends that do July 4th events at their home each year.  From the first time we were invited, Dan and I have always enjoyed attending these events.  This year was a bit tough for me.

Last year when I went to get Alexander up for the July 4th day, he was sitting in his crib patiently waiting for me with his left eye was completely swollen shut.  Being a new parent, I freaked.  I picked him up and then went to our bedroom where I told Dan we needed to take him to the ER.

I did call the pediatrician who calmed me down after I told him what happened.  We figured out it was probably just an allergic reaction to a bug bite and Benadryl would fix the problem.  We followed the doctors’ order regarding the Benadryl and Alexander’s eye was just fine.  Alexander wasn’t affected at all by the swollen eye.  It was me who was bothered.

July 4, 2008 – Alexander’s eye was completely swollen shut.
This is after he’d had some Benadryl.

Benadryl in hand, we headed out for the day.  The first stop of the day was a brunch at friends.   Alexander had fun opening and closing the doors in the house.  He wandered through the party with confidence and as long as he could see Dan or I, he was fine.

After leaving brunch, we went home so Alexander could nap before heading to the cookout in the afternoon.

It was a wonderful day for the cookout.  Alexander’s eye was much better and he had the best time running around with the other kids.  Aside from flirting with the hosts’ niece, his favorite thing to do that day was to play with the radio.  If we weren’t quick, he’d be at the radio either changing the station or turning the volume up.  He loved turning knobs and it was a funny sight to behold.

July 4, 2008 – Alexander eating ice

All in all, it was a great weekend with good friends and good food.

This year, it was different.  It was hard for me to attend the gatherings because of all the memories of Alexander.  I told Dan I probably wouldn’t be able to stay at either event long but that I wanted to give it a try.

The weekend’s events were made more difficult by my having to tell two people about Alexander’s passing.  On separate occasions, each person asked “How’s your little boy?” I wanted to cry but didn’t.  I did tell each what had happened.  I thought I was past having to still people but I guess not.

I miss our little guy so much and wish he were here.

Today makes it 6 months since Alexander’s passing.

Yesterday, Dan and I went to hit some tennis balls.  I soon became distracted by the sounds of the nearby families laughing and enjoying themselves.  Having the fun vacation we should also be having with Alexander.  I got upset and we had to leave.  I cried for a while after we got back to our room.

Some days I become so overwhelmed with feelings of missing Alexander that all I can do is cry.

We head home tomorrow morning.  I definitely want to make sure I visit Alexander’s site when we get home.

…if we’re going to have other child.  When people ask, it’s like a knife through my heart.  Like if we quickly have another child, it will erase the pain I’m feeling now.  Some people do preface the question with, ‘I know you can’t replace Alexander but…’

I know people mean well but whether or not we have other children is intensely personal and a decision we won’t make lightly.  It’s also probably not a decision we’ll share with with others.

Losing Alexander is the worst thing I’ve ever had to face in life.  He will always be my first born and have a very special place in my heart.

It’s been a busy week.

Our 10 year wedding anniversary was on June 7.  For the prior 9 years, Dan and I had marked our anniversary by going to an “M” city/town.  After we celebrated number 9, I told Dan and I wanted to have a party as we entered the double digits.  This year, I just couldn’t.  Despite our ongoing sadness, I wanted to do something. We invited a few friends over and Dan grilled a stuffed (I made the stuffing) whole red snapper.  We’ll have it again sometime soon.

A few days, I officially became President of our local Junior League. In addition to planning the league’s annual dinner where I’d receive my gavel, I also had to give a speech.  I practiced the speech several and even once in front of Dan.  I didn’t shed a tear.  When I gave the same remarks in front of the members attending annual dinner, I broke down when I mentioned Alexander’s name.  I got through it by stopping for a few seconds before going on with the rest of my remarks.  Maybe someday, I’ll get to the point where I can talk about him in public without crying so much.  The loss of my child is a part of who I am now and I feel the need to share his story I can.

I’ve had a swirl of emotions going on the last couple of weeks and decided to go back into therapy.  I’m not sure I’ll start going weekly again but I still have a lot of things I need to discuss related to Alexander’s loss.  Having an onjective person listen to me is very helpful.

We arrived yesterday for a week’s long vacation with Dan’s family.  When we all originally planned this vacation, Dan and I thought it would be great time for Alexander to spend time with his cousins.  He really only saw them at Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday get togethers so we thought this would be a nice way for him to have some bonding time with them. Without Alexander here with us, this is a bittersweet vacation for me.

Each time I come up the stairs from the 1st floor to the 2nd floor, I’m greeted by Alexander’s sweet little face.  In his bedroom, there is a large framed photo which peers out at me.  The photo was taken during Christmas 2007 when we were visting Dan’s family.  Whenever I look at the photo, I see such hope in Alexander’s face.  His eyes expecting something wonderful to come.  How do I reconcile my current life with what I see in that photo when I feel so hopeless?

I saw 4 ambulances when I was out running errands today.  Three of the four had flashing lights with no sirens.  All I could think was someone else is gone and another family is about to go through the misery that I’ve lived with the past 5 1/2 months.

Dan and I met friends out for dinner and drinks last night.  Once again, I found myself telling someone else that Alexander passed in December.  When I say the words “passed in December”, it seems like it was long ago but my grieving heart doesn’t know anything about the passage of time.

I miss Alexander more each day.

I’ve been feeling blah all week.  I just can’t seem to get motivated to do much and I have a lot I need to get done.  Next week is a busy one for and includes giving a speech at a dinner.  I’ve started writing it but can’t seem to finish.  

I’m not visiting Alexander’s grave site every day anymore.  I’m still there most days but am trying to spend a day or two each week visiting the tot lot named for him.  It’s good for me to go and remember the time we played together in the tot lot.  I can still remember his running up the ramp to get on the slide.  Once he mastered sliding, he just loved doing it.  Whenever we went someplace that had a slide, he had to get on it.

I have a meeting next week to discuss distributing the first scholarship from the Alexander Michael Dodson Memorial Scholarship Fund.  It’s great that we’ll help carry on his memory through the fund but I’d rather have my sweet little boy here with me. 

I’m still having such a hard time.  I miss Alexander so much and just want to hold him again.

I’m feeling hypsensitive these days.  I was working in my office and tried to print something.  This is a document that’s been on my computer for years and all I ever do is change the shipping address.  For some reason, the document wouldn’t print properly.  I got so upset about the misprint that I started to cry and couldn’t stop for several minutes.  I really just needed to feel like I could count on something to go right for me today.

Dan and I finally completed the SUDC Family Survey over the weekend and I put it in the mail today.  We finished the consent forms in April to allow the researchers to request Alexander’s medical information and it’s taken us this long to complete the survey.  The survey wasn’t hard.  It was just long and not something that could be completed in one sitting because of all the memories it brought up for both of us.

As I was out running errands yesterday, I saw the circus entertainers preparing for their shows this weekend.  Sitting in traffic and hearing all the delighted laughter from the children made me cry a little.  It was just another reminderof something else I would miss out on doing with Alexander.  The circus comes to town every year and we probably would have taken Alexander this year.

The pool opened at the club over the weekend.  Dan and I have never gone to the pool a lot but went more often last year because Alexander really enjoyed being in the water.  We had some good times with him there splashing around in the baby pool.  We’ve decided that we’re going to skip the pool this year.  It would just be too sad without Alexander.

I was talking to someone over the weekend who was explaining to me the origins of the Mother’s Day holiday.  This person had also lost a child recently and this story was told to her.  After I got home, I had to do some research on my own.

There are many stories about the origins of Mother’s Day taking back to the ancient Greeks to the celebrations we have today.  There have been celebrations tied to the Christian church; to Julia Howe who was so distraught by the violence and death of the Civil War that she called on mothers to protest the killing of other mother’s son by their sons; and to women wanting to create a national holiday to celebrate their own mothers.  There have been fights over the commercialization of Mother’s Day and someone even tried to patent the day.  Through it all, one thing has remained common:  Mother’s Day is a day to celebrate all mothers.  A day to honor and cherish them.  A day to reflect upon life.

I had no idea about the origins and am glad to know more about the history.  Here is a link to one of the sites I found with the history: http://www.mothersdaycentral.com/about-mothersday/history/

It’s the Memorial Day weekend.  Last year for Memorial Day, we took Alexander to Dallas for what we thought would be the first of many Artfests to come in the years ahead.  He’d just celebrated his first birthday about 3 weeks before and was walking comfortably on his own.  The weather in Dallas was unbearably hot.  It’d been a while since I was there and so I forgot how hot it could get. Alexander wasn’t used to the heat and didn’t like it at all.  We tried to keep him inside as much as we could and made sure he had plenty of water to drink.

We got to see several friends and Alexander had the best time dancing and of course flirting.    Here is a link to Alexander dancing at the 2008 Artfest: http://www.totsites.com/tot/dodsonemerson/movies/19258

The Junior League had its Rhythm & Brews Festival this Saturday.  When we decided we’d put on the event, one of my first thoughts was Alexander is going to love it.  He loves music, dancing and being social.  There were lots of kids activities and plenty of room to run around.  He would have had the best time.  It was hard for me to be at the event without him.

One of the vendors at the R&B Festival had met Alexander on a few occasions and so when I saw her, she immediately asked how’s the baby.  With tears in my eyes, I had to tell her the news.  Like everyone else, she was completely shocked and asked if he’d been sick.  We chatted for a few second about what happened and then she gave me a big hug.  As I continue to have to tell people about what has happened to Alexander, it reminds me just how many lives he touched.

We spent a good part of yesterday morning doing yardwork.  Even though we had plans to get the backyard done, I always think of the backyard as Alexander’s 1st birthday present from us because we rushed to get it done so we could have his party in the backyard.  We had lots of good times with him back there and every time I’m back there, I keep waiting to hear his voice or see him chasing tennis balls or trying to water the plants.

I piddled around for the rest of the weekend.  I just didn’t have the energy to do much more.

People are always telling me how strong and how they can’t believe I’m doing all I’m doing.  What they don’t realize is that it continues to be a struggle everyday to get out of the bed, to make sure I eat and just try to be a part of the life that is moving forward without me.  I may seem strong on the outside but inside my heart is broken in an infinite number of pieces that I’m trying to figure out how to put back together again.

Five months ago my life changed beyond belief.  Five months and one day ago was the last time I saw Alexander smile.  Five months and one day ago was the last time I heard him say mommy and give me a hug. Five months and one day ago was the last time I saw him running around our house.

It’s been a tough day for me.  I didn’t have errands I had to do today so I spent my day in tears in front of the tv.  I didn’t cry all day but I shed a lot of tears.

I did spend part of the day educating myself and listened to videos about computer programming.  I was trying to enhance my mind for my business. Because they force me to focus, I think it’ll be good for me to watch these videos at least an hour or two every day.  

The only time I got out of the house today was when I went to visit Alexander.  I sat on the ground and just talked to him.  As I was visiting Alexander’s graveside, I noticed how much the tree above him had grown.  In the winter months, it was barely noticeable, but now it’s a beautiful green umbrella protecting my child.

Dan has been traveling this week and got home this evening.  After I picked him up from the train station, we went out for dinner.  We did ok with spending an evening out and talking to whomever happened to be at the country club.