Meet Henry

Meet Henry

Henry's Story

Henry Leland Seretta was born on April 14, 2014. This little monster invaded our hearts even before he was born. He was a completely healthy and happy baby, until he started getting an ear infection and colds in mid-October. We finally got rid of the ear infection, but the cold symptoms never fully disappeared. Over the weekend of November 8 & 9, Henry got significantly sicker. He was admitted to Children's Hospital in Omaha on November 10, 2014, and was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia on November 11, 2014. He fought hard for nearly two weeks, before passing away on November 22, 2014. This blog depicts our journey through the grief of losing Henry. If you would like to read more about his medical journey, you can visit his CaringBridge page. More photos and community posts can be found at our Hope for Henry Facebook page. Thank you for sharing this journey with us!

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Getting Through Grief

When someone dies, you don't get over your grief by forgetting, you get through your grief by remembering." ~author unknown

I came across this quote yesterday, and it has stuck with me.  We never "get over" our grief, and those that ask us to have never truly grieved.  (Thankfully, I haven't had anyone suggest to me that I just "get over it.")  And forgetting, though it may seem to work for a time, will always catch up with you.

It's the second part of the quote, though, that truly spoke to me.  I feel like it is describing exactly how Tim and I grieve...by remembering.  As the school year has started, we tend to spend part of our morning comparing Timehop and Facebook memories.  This morning was especially fun...one year ago I went to Outdoor Ed overnight with our 6th graders.  This left Tim at home on his own with Henry.  I had no worries about leaving Tim and Henry on their own...Tim was (and still is) an amazing daddy and I knew he and Henry would have a grand time.  I was a little worried about me...I hadn't been away from Henry for more than a few hours up to this point, and certainly not overnight!  Tim, of course, came through and from the moment he picked Henry up from daycare he sent me pictures and videos.  I got videos of Tim telling Henry, "Say hi to mama!" and Henry breaking out in a big smile.  I got to see and hear Henry babbling at bedtime.  And so did all of the other adults at Outdoor Ed with me!

We are so lucky to have so many people that allow us to grieve by remembering.  I've never had someone tell me it's time to stop sharing stories about my boys...I am able to tell stories through my blog...I can share pictures and videos through the magic of the Internet...our family is more than happy to share stories back and forth...my friends and coworkers don't cringe when I mention Henry's name yet again at lunch or mention him in a Facebook comment.  I am thankful to all who continue to allow me to grieve in this manner...thank you for sharing our memories!

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