This past May, my husband Mike and I took a trip to Massachusetts to visit Amy's family and Amy's marker to pay our respects. I'm posting about it now because I've struggled with whether or not I should share photos of our experience for fear of upsetting anyone. After mulling it over for a few months, and asking myself "should i?", "shouldn't i?", "would anyone care?"... something my husband said has resonated with me. He told me, "You can't expect people to care the way you care". He's right. Don't tell him that because it'll go directly to his head. I can't expect people to care the way I do - and I really shouldn't. I can't expect people to grieve the way I grieve, that's not fair either. But I also shouldn't be afraid to share my joy or sadness out of fear. If there's one thing I've learned from being on social media there's absolutely no way to make everyone happy and someone, somewhere will always find a problem with what someone else does.
This blog's purpose began as a way for me to keep everyone updated regarding donations and to relay messages from Amy's family, but it's also been a huge part of my healing process. It's been a big help to me as I've been dealing with the grief of losing one of my closest, best friends - someone I considered a sister.
With that being said, I would very much like to share some of the pictures from our bittersweet trip. We embarked on a journey with Amy's parents and siblings visiting landmarks for what Massachusetts is best known for. The weather was beautiful - albeit hot at 90+ degrees F. Besides the sightseeing, it was therapeutic getting to speak to other people that know and love Amy as I do. I'll admit, I finally feel some closure. The only thing missing was Amy. I would have loved to have seen her home, her town and her city through her eyes.
Mike and I have plans to return as time and money permits. But I am truly grateful for the warm welcome by Amy's family and the experience altogether.
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| Arrived in Massachusetts! |
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| Amy's Beloved Lake by her Home |
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| It's HENRY! Look at the cute puppy face! |
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| Amy's beautiful Marker. We added some color with an Angel my Mom made. It includes tulips, Amy's favorite flower. |
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| Amy's Bench by the Lake placed by Amy's neighbors in Loving Memory. |
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| Plymouth Plantation - look at that beautiful coast line! |
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| Plymouth Rock. I expected it to be a lot bigger than what it was! |
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| Beautiful scenery by Plymouth - the Mayflower was out for restoration so we didn't get to visit that. |
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| The sign says it all |
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| We walked the oldest road in the U.S. that's still in use! |
