This is my very first blog post! I am very excited about writing. For me, I think this will is an outlet where that has not been one before. Also, I see this as an opportunity to be a resource. This past summer I reposted/shared a memory on Facebook. It was my late husband, Raymond, ignoring his favorite baseball team, the New York Yankees, game on TV. The game was on in the background as he was tending to our newborn son. This picture popped up in my memory alerts and made me smile. 
In my original comments on Facebook, I noted how awesome and great fatherhood looked on Raymond. Getting that memory really gave me a good feeling. Seeing that picture filled me with love; fatherhood did look good on Raymond and I am glad he got to at least have those experiences. I shared the memory with my Facebook friends and family. The feedback from sharing that picture was a mixed reaction. There were a lot of sad faces; sadness of the loss for our son, sadness for the stolen opportunity from Raymond, and sadness caused by the instant reminder of the void in specific lives and relationships. The following day, a friend approached me to let me know how posting that memory impacted her. She began to weep and tell me that how proud of me that she was. She talked about watching me grow over the last three years. I believe her emotion was out of joy for my journey and feeling the love of that post and not the sadness of the reality. She was moved to express encouragement, admiration, and continued support.
I never considered that when posting the memory that it may show growth in me or, on the other hand, reignite a paused grief process for some others. Like I suddenly reminded them, unbeknownst to them, of the great sadness of our void. Things, of course, I did not think about. So today, with much thought, I would like to be an encouragement to others. I want others to be moved and feel the love, whether from at the moment, in this case, of the picture, or from their own happy moment. I have sad times. I have felt downhearted. It took me time to figure a way up. One thing that can help in those times can be finding your one moment/memory for today. I will share mine from that day with the picture that made me smile.
