Our Fallen Hero

Hero: a man distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and strength

She was a woman. She was a daughter, mother, wife, and friend. She was the mother of my boys, the wife of my husband and sadly not ever my friend in life. She fought a fight I cannot imagine. She never gave up. She fought to see Nik's first birthday. She missed her own that year. She fought for one more Christmas, but lost just shy of that year's holidays. She wrote them letters, made out birthday cards, and finished a scrapbook for Nik just so they had something after she was gone. She planned her own funeral so Larry did not have to handle the details while in so much pain. She left me my life and did not even know it when she died.

She left them 9 years ago today. The pain for some is still as raw today as it was nine years ago, but for others it is easing. Her life is remembered, her time here on earth cherished.

Today her boys were at a football pep rally. Likely she was not on their minds. She was on mine. I fought tears as I watched Zak hang with his buddies. I fought the tears when I saw Nik run out with his first football team. She is missing so much. It is not fair! They too miss so much, her voice, her scent, her long "red" hair. The way she read to them, the way she tucked them in at night, the way she made peanut butter and honey sandwiches. All things I cannot be all things I want them to remember!

So, tonight as our crazy weekend comes to a close I sit in quiet and think about a hero I never knew. Someone I owe so much of my happiness to. Someone that gave me a gift better than anything I can ever wrap. R.I.P. Randa Gail Kennedy.