Catching Up and Tyler's School Memorial

The last few weeks have seemed to fly by. My dad's birthday was the day after Tyler's birthday and we celebrated with a family party at our house. He has spent  many birthdays where we combined his party with Tyler's , therefore he had a hard time enjoying it. He would rather have skipped the day but Tyler would want us to rejoice in having another birthday to spend with his Grandpa.

 The kids painted pumpkins to decorate Tyler's grave. I didn't get a picture of all the pumpkins at Tyler's resting place but I did take Rae to give her pumpkin to Tyler. It was the first time Rae and I had been to the cemetery since Tyler's funeral. It was tough for both of us but I am glad we did it. It did open my eyes to the fact that we need to get his headstone but that's a whole blog post by itself.

Rachel performed in the fall chorus concert. I love to see her on stage having fun and doing what she loves.

Rae dressed up as a Minion from  Despicable Me for Halloween. It was the first year since becoming a mother that I didn't go Trick or Treating with my kids. I had nose/sinus surgery on October 30 and couldn't leave the house to take her. She went with a friend and I am sure she had more fun that way. I did get to take her to a Halloween party the weekend before though.

 

Several months ago a friend of our family, Trevor, contacted us about doing a memorial at the school for Tyler. Trevor needed a project to do to become an Eagle Scout. Trevor's family has been extremely close to us since Tyler was nine years old and played football for Drew, Trevor's stepdad. We consider them family. Dean and I had very little to do with the project as it was being done but I know Trevor had a lot of help. Dean's brother, Bart, and his sons, Trevor and Matt, put
many hours into it. Peyton was very involved and loved doing this for his brother. I know in the beginning they were talking about putting a bench on campus with his name engraved on it. The next thing I heard after that was a helmet statue. The end result is absolutely breath taking. Every parent that loses a child is terrified that he/she will be forgotten. This memorial will keep people talking about Tyler forever. Today in the ceremony, which was beautiful, I believe it was said that the football team will run by it and  will each touch it as they pass on their way to play a game. Children that attend The Heritage School will always know who Tyler Henson was. He loved playing football there and now will always be a part of football tradition at the school. I will stop my "ramblings" now and let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

 

Trevor