December 28 marked the one year anniversary of Jackson going to Heaven. God sent us a gorgeous sunny day. The days leading up to it had been very dark and gloomy weather wise. We were glad to see the sun.
We began the day at a healing service at church. It is a wonderful service that we went to many times last year before and after Jackson was born. The whole family went last year the day after he died. It is an uplifting service that includes Eucharist. My mom joined us. Father Jones said some very special healing prayers over the three of us. All of the priests always know exactly how to pray for us. Of course, I cried during most of the service. After the service, we went to the columbarium to put some flowers on his marker and spend some time with him. We visited with the sexton, Omar, afterwards, which was fitting, as he was the one to put Jackson's ashes in the ground. Every time we see him at church, we give him a hug. He is such a kind soul.
Our sweet friend, Melissa, (who was also our night nanny when Austin came home) came and kept Austin while we went to the service. She and Austin had a fun morning playing together. She was kind enough to bring a balloon to release for Jackson. She holds a special place in our hearts, too, as she was one of Jackson's frequent visitors at Vandy in the PICU. I will never forget the night he died when she walked in the door to spend the night and was in tears over losing Jackson. It made us realize what a kind person she is and how many lives our sweet little angel truly touched. She spent most of the day with us on the anniversary.
We ended the day watching the video of "Baby's First Day" from TLC. It was fun to see the excitement and anxiety in our faces going through the first few days of life. They captured some wonderful footage of both boys. I especially loved seeing the footage of the one and only time I held the boys together. Wish I had gotten to do that more, but sweet Jackson had way too many cords and tubes attached to him. We were amazed at how much he changed from his early days in the NICU to his last few days in the PICU. We found a picture Allen had taken the day he died. I had not seen that picture in a year. Some how it had gotten mixed in with all the other pictures. I was so glad we have the last glimpse of him on his last day even though he was so swollen and puffy and his skin coloring did not look good. The prayer blanket that my brother's friend made him with all the prayers our family and friends submitted was near his head. I was so glad to see it near him. We also watched the video that Allen made of Jackson. He has such a gift with making those videos. Every time I watch it, I cry, but they are good tears. It was a good way to end the day.
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