ValenLIME Dance

No, that's not a typo.  Jon, the boys and I were invited to a ValenLIME Dance on Friday night (the 15th).  The invitation stated there would be music, food and games.  It told us of the time, location and to wear lime green.  It also said the following,
                                      "It's been a year since our classmate and friend TJ began his fight...
                                       We want to honor his memory and love for music and laughter...
                                       Come enjoy the evening with the 5th grade class." 
Two of TJ's dear friends wanted to have a Valentine's Day dance/party, but wanted to honor the memory of their friend at the same time - hence the name "ValenLIME".  Jon and I were so touched that they thought of this all on their own AND that they wanted our presence there!  Earlier that day, one of the mom's who was hosting this event stopped by our house with a gift.  They had made lime green shirts in memory of TJ to wear to the party!  I was once again moved (by tears) at their thoughtfulness. 

We showed up to the party and everything was lime green!  The decorations, the punch, even the M&M's (which also had TJ's name on them)!  I was brought to tears to see his classmates all sporting the new t-shirts we had just gotten earlier in the day (the same ones we showed up wearing).  This party was perfect!  TJ would have had an absolute ball (to put it mildly)!!  They danced, sang, ate sub sandwiches - the party screamed TJ!!  Anthony, Will and Charlie quickly made their way to the dance floor and partied it up the whole night.  It was such a bittersweet night.  A night of fun and sadness.  It was so good to see those kids again - I was always (and still am) fond of the kiddos in TJ's class - they are such a good group of kids (and parents)!  We ended the night by going outside with all of his classmates (and some parents) surrounding our family in a circle.  We were given lime green balloons and on the count of three they all said "TJ" and we let the balloons go.

We had such a great night!  I have no worries of these kids ever forgetting TJ - I know they will honor his memory and keep it alive for years to come!  I'm so thankful for each of these kids and their parents.  Words cannot express all what we felt last night - I'm still speechless and humbled by their love for us and our son.  I couldn't help but imagine TJ being at the party - dancing, singing and having the time of his life with his friends.  THANK YOU to all of those who put on this amazing event - those words just don't seem like enough.  I'll share a few of the pictures of our night:


 
The lime green M&M's with TJ's name!
 
 

 
TJ's classmates & friends who were at the party.
 
 
 

 
The balloon release.
 
 
 

\
 
The back of our shirts.

Comments

  1. UnknownFebruary 17, 2013 at 10:02 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownFebruary 17, 2013 at 10:08 PM

    This was an AMAZING and very thoughtful thing TJ's class did in memory of their classmate! Oh how TJ would've loved this party! Love, hugs, and prayers Aunt Carol (aka ... Tilly")

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Grieving Still

I love to read other people's blogs.  Sometimes I get neat ideas from them or at other times it's just fun to hear what is going on in that particular family.  I few months after TJ passed away I received an email from a friend of the family's to check out a certain blog.  This particular family had just lost their 15 year old son to pancreatic cancer.  I decided to go back to their caringbridge page to read more about their journey.  There were some similarities and some major differences, however, we have both experienced the loss of our sons WAY too early.  I love to read her blog because I can totally relate with her.  I almost feel as if everything she shares are my feelings as well.  She shared something on her blog the other day (something someone else had shared with her) and I hope you all don't take this the wrong way, (I'm sorry in advance) but  Our transition is still a grieving one. They are SPOT ON! I thought I’d share them with you. I’ve heard it a th
Read more

Welcome

Welcome to our blog!  This has been more work than I thought it was going to be and I still have more work to do.  I think I'll just keep working on it a little bit at a time until I get it the way I want - SO it might look different every time you check it out.  Who knows!  I thought I'd create a blog for you to keep up with us instead of checking on caringbridge everytime.  I don't know how often I will update.  Just know that I will be sharing our life with you as it is without TJ.  Some topics might be just the everyday things our family is experiencing - school, holidays, vacations, etc.  And at other times I might be sharing my heart.  Follow along if you wish to know how we are doing, what we are doing and ways you can pray for our family.  See you soon!
Read more

The Basement Reveal!

Image
This post is long overdue - pictures of the basement.  We have since added the boys beds, living room furniture and toys.  There are still a few more things yet to bring in, buy or add - but for the most part it is DONE and we are enjoying it!  Still have to put up some trim in the entry way and living room  The upstairs bathroom needs to be finished and putting the office and now spare room back together.  Otherwise our project should be finished.  It seems like it has been a process - but it sure is nice - so glad we were able to do it!    The stairway down - we opened up the stairway two stairs.  Need the railing back on yet.       The hallway between the bedrooms, bathroom and laundry room.     The family room - this side has the tv, and furniture.  I didn't take a picture of the other half - that is the toy side.   The laundry room.  Still waiting for a counter top for the south wall.          The bathroom.      
Read more