. OMG!!!!!!!! LAUGHTER THROUGH TEARS TO START THE DAY WITH THIS MEMORY!
As we get closer to that horrible date which is so freaking looming and daunting, each and EVERY year, these memories are killing me. Approaching the April 3 rd anniversary is ALWAYS SO damn heavy and hard…. But this memory makes me laugh
I have to preface this post with the statement that Jamie was not normally this much of a smart ass… He was a great kid and these antics were not very characteristic of him… But he was extremely funny, witty , with a great sense of timing…. And, I was the “softer “ parent, the one he knew would laugh at his shenanigans, because we were so much alike.
This popped up on my timeline today and I can remember it like it happened yesterday…
It was 13 YEARS AGO TODAY ( HOW can it be 13 years already???!!!!) A few days before Jamie McHenry went on that fateful Spring Break trip
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I was working from home and was really busy with tax season and trying to juggle both my year round accounting clients and then throw in my tax clients into the mix.
My home office was basically our formal living room , at the time, that I made into my office ( before I moved into the basement) . We had french doors installed for some privacy, but because the room is right as your walk in the front door and on the main floor, it’s hard to block out the noises from the household… and, let’s face it, we are NOT quiet people. So… I was working from home 13 yrs ago today and was on an important phone call with one of my big clients at the time. I knew Jamie would be coming home from school any minute, so I closed the french doors to my office. Jamie McHenry had worked REALLY hard to pull all of his grades up to mainly As and a few Bs, the carrot that we used to dangle for incentive for him to be able to go on that trip and he had done so successfully . He was, for the most part, behaving in class and not being the class clown and getting in trouble. He had held up his end of the deal to go on the trip and he was really excited.
As I was on the phone call, I heard the middle school bus coming (our house sits right at the intersection where the kids get dropped off). I got up from my desk, still on the phone call, and waited for Jamie to come through the door so I could greet him but also give him the signal that I was on a call and to be quiet. Jamie usually came in from school like a bull in a china shop, laughing or singing one of his inappropriate rap songs (lol) and throwing his backpack on the bench in the foyer. I remember I could hear him laughing from outside, giving his friend and neighbor, Rebecca Boyd a hard time about having a crush on someone as he was coming up the front step. As soon as he came in the door, I remember dramatically giving him the the universal sign for BE QUIET by pressing my forefinger to my lips and waving him to go on. He looked at me, smiled, and went in the other room. As I continued my client call, I noticed Jamie came back around and was standing in front of the french doors to my office, peering in with a mischievous look. I looked up at him and ignored him, deep in my phone call. Then he starts (in a low voice, mouth up against the crack in the doors) whispering, “mom, mom, ma, mom, mother, mom, ma,mom,mother, mom, mom, mother mom, ma….” ( something he had seen on Family Guy) . I looked up, pointed to the phone and waved him on again. He left. A few minutes later, he came back and started fogging up each individual window panel of the french doors and starts spelling out, “HI MOM” and drawing smiley faces with his finger on the glass…. I am still ignoring him at this point but secretly entertained by his determination to get my attention. However, I was not giving into him and I was really trying to focus on that phone call…. Then …. he starts dancing. At this point, I was getting mad but still ignoring him. He was standing outside my door, dancing in his khaki sorts and polo and gyrating his hips (as I was also trying not to laugh because he was seriously cracking me up deep down inside as I was having this boring conversation about taxes…). He disappeared again and I remember thinking he had given up until…. he came back in front of the door and this time, he had his khaki shorts down to his ankles and he was mooning me through the doors of my office!!!! I was SOOO mad but could not help but to start laughing… I asked the client to hold, pushed the mute button, got up from my chair, opened the doors to my office, trying not to laugh so I could smack his wiggling ass and try to catch Jamie who was running away from me, laughing maniacally with his shorts down around his ankles and cackling like a little girl… I started laughing too and trying to punish him after laughing with him was a moot point. I asked him what the emergency was that he had to rudely distract me from my phone call … his response? he told me he wanted me to go to the store to buy some milk….
Oh how I miss my funny boy.. This behavior was not typical , I know how excited he was about that spring break trip and he was in an extra mischievous mood that day. This morning, i got up and looked through the french doors to my old office, closed my eyes and i swear I can still see his face, fogging up the windows and his butt wiggling around and I cry and then smile.
Time is so completely warped when you lose a child. These memories are forever etched in my mind… as vivid as 13 yrs ago and I hope they will remain that way. As painful as they are, I NEVER want to forget them and I am thankful I have FB to remind me each year as i sit here and cry as i laugh.
#liveforjamie
#timehealsnothing
#foreverlovedalwaysmissedneverforgotten