Sad Tasks

Monday (7/24) morning was a sad day since we had the task of making arrangements to lay to rest our dear little boy. Chris was still in pain from his kidney stones and I was still in pain from the C-section but the pain of Eric's death was still greater. Unfortunately, we did have to consider cost as we searched the web for information on burials, cremations and funerals. We decided to go with cremation by the Anderson-McQueen Funeral Home. We made arrangements to meet with them the next morning.

Tuesday (7/25), we met with a funeral director who discussed all the options with us. We could have a sort of viewing right before his cremation where they would place him in a bassinet or even hold him in a rocking chair but we turned down this offer since we had already said "goodbye" and our little Eric was no longer in the frail little body but was now in Heaven. We arranged for the release of the body from All Children's Hospital and filled out forms for the death certificate and obituary. No parent should ever have to make arrangements for their child to be laid to rest but the funeral director helped to make the task a little easier. He even arranged for the urn to be a tiny keepsake blue baby bootie.



Chris and I intend some day to have Eric's remains buried properly with a headstone but until we are ready for that, I believe the keepsake will be easier to look at than a plain, cold piece of pottery. I requested that Eric's footprints be taken for a necklace called a "Thumbie" to be made for me at a later time.

As we left the funeral home Tuesday afternoon, I felt as though my load had been lightened quite a bit. The arrangements were no longer looming over my head as a constant reminder of Eric's death. I felt more free to celebrate the life still with us, Kyle, and to celebrate that we had been able to have little Eric for at least the short amount of time we did.