One Year Ago Today......
Today is March 27th and I had arrived in Kiev with my late-husband Philip..............ONE YEAR AGO.
I remember how nervous and excited Philip and I were. This past week my mind has been flooded with the memories of the last trip Philip and I took together...........and what a trip it was. It was the most amazing journey we ever had experienced together. It is certainly a memory I will always hold close to my heart.
Before I begin, I would like to thank everyone for their heart-warming comments and prayers. I appreciate very much for you's all sending me a message. Pleasantly enough, each & everyone of them came to me at just the right moment. I look forward to reading the comments. It helps to know that people are thinking about us. It is almost 3 months since Philip has passed away. Some days are harder then others. It all depends on what is going on. I am being very patient in taking as much time as possible with myself and the kids to grieve. I don't what to rush things as this will make things worse. I try to talk about Philip or at least mention him whenever I can. It comforts me to be able to talk about him to friends and family. We are all taking it one day at a time. I also try not to hold feelings in. Whenever I have a "moment" arise, I try to just let it go and cry where ever I am. It's hard sometimes because I'm afraid of making someone feel uncomfortable or feel bad. We are all doing o.k. otherwise. The weather has become alot nicer which helps to lift up our spirits sometimes. The winter was making things alittle more depressing.
We just got back from Florida not too long ago. We have been home for a week now. I decided to go to Clearwater, Florida, for the kids March Break. My parents have a condo there. They left here, to go back to Clearwater about a week before I did. My brother-in-law Silvo and my sister Giovanna had asked me before if we would all like to travel with them in their motor-home. They thought it might be good for us to get away for a little while. I agreed with them. Philip and I had already planned to drive down to Florida with the kids in our 5th-wheeler camper. I'm sure Philip would have been very disappointed if we stayed home instead.We all had a nice time and the weather was good the whole time. The kids went into the pool alot and also went fishing & shuffle-board playing with Nonno & Nonna.(grand-pa & grand-ma). We also took them to the beach one day. This was Sara's first time at a beach. She had a blast. She loved how the water would come up and "tickle her toes" and go back out and come back again. She played in the sand alot too. We collected a bunch of the tiniest sea-shells together. I plan to paste them around the pictures taken at the beach. She did not like those aggressive sea gulls. They stole our egg-salad sandwiches right out of our hands! After about a week of being in Florida, the kids were starting to get anxious to come home. Sara started to ask me a week before we left, if she could go home. Everyday she would ask me,"Mama, When we go home? I wanna go home. I miss Mikey(our dog)." For the rest of the week she was not always herself. She was alittle edgy. She was also missing her Daddy alot. Twice Sara got angry and told me she was mad that Daddy wasn't here. I think maybe it reminded her too often of how much she misses her Daddy. Seeing her cousin Samantha (almost 2 yrs old) with her Daddy everyday had gotten to her. She really misses Philip's attention and affection. She still tells me how much she misses him. When we arrived home she was so excited! Sara was as happy as can be. For the rest of the week she told me everyday,"Mommy, I so happy we are home !!!!" She was back to her old self in no time. Actually I'm glad to be back home too. I think our HOME is a "comfort zone" for all of us. This is where we feel safe ,secure and closest to Philip. I'm glad we went away for a little while. It was so nice of Giovanna & Silvo to take us along. I really appreciate that they did this for us.
Today I received a wonderful surprise email! I received an email from our dear driver Leonid in Lugansk, Ukraine! I cried when I read the email. I was so happy to receive it and at the same time I felt sad because I have to tell him the devastating news about Philip. I was hoping and praying that he would contact me. We exchanged addresses, phone numbers etc. just before we said our goodbyes. I had wanted to contact him months ago and I had misplaced his contact information. He said that he has never forgotten us and how we treated him. He mentioned that it was almost one year ago when we first met and that it feels like yeterday. He has asked for pictures and looks forward to hearing from us. I miss him. He was such a gentleman and a good friend.
Well I suppose that is all for now. Take care everyone and please post your messages as I look forward to reading them. Until my next post...........HAPPY SPRING DAYS EVERYONE!...........
Gina
I remember how nervous and excited Philip and I were. This past week my mind has been flooded with the memories of the last trip Philip and I took together...........and what a trip it was. It was the most amazing journey we ever had experienced together. It is certainly a memory I will always hold close to my heart.
Before I begin, I would like to thank everyone for their heart-warming comments and prayers. I appreciate very much for you's all sending me a message. Pleasantly enough, each & everyone of them came to me at just the right moment. I look forward to reading the comments. It helps to know that people are thinking about us. It is almost 3 months since Philip has passed away. Some days are harder then others. It all depends on what is going on. I am being very patient in taking as much time as possible with myself and the kids to grieve. I don't what to rush things as this will make things worse. I try to talk about Philip or at least mention him whenever I can. It comforts me to be able to talk about him to friends and family. We are all taking it one day at a time. I also try not to hold feelings in. Whenever I have a "moment" arise, I try to just let it go and cry where ever I am. It's hard sometimes because I'm afraid of making someone feel uncomfortable or feel bad. We are all doing o.k. otherwise. The weather has become alot nicer which helps to lift up our spirits sometimes. The winter was making things alittle more depressing.
We just got back from Florida not too long ago. We have been home for a week now. I decided to go to Clearwater, Florida, for the kids March Break. My parents have a condo there. They left here, to go back to Clearwater about a week before I did. My brother-in-law Silvo and my sister Giovanna had asked me before if we would all like to travel with them in their motor-home. They thought it might be good for us to get away for a little while. I agreed with them. Philip and I had already planned to drive down to Florida with the kids in our 5th-wheeler camper. I'm sure Philip would have been very disappointed if we stayed home instead.We all had a nice time and the weather was good the whole time. The kids went into the pool alot and also went fishing & shuffle-board playing with Nonno & Nonna.(grand-pa & grand-ma). We also took them to the beach one day. This was Sara's first time at a beach. She had a blast. She loved how the water would come up and "tickle her toes" and go back out and come back again. She played in the sand alot too. We collected a bunch of the tiniest sea-shells together. I plan to paste them around the pictures taken at the beach. She did not like those aggressive sea gulls. They stole our egg-salad sandwiches right out of our hands! After about a week of being in Florida, the kids were starting to get anxious to come home. Sara started to ask me a week before we left, if she could go home. Everyday she would ask me,"Mama, When we go home? I wanna go home. I miss Mikey(our dog)." For the rest of the week she was not always herself. She was alittle edgy. She was also missing her Daddy alot. Twice Sara got angry and told me she was mad that Daddy wasn't here. I think maybe it reminded her too often of how much she misses her Daddy. Seeing her cousin Samantha (almost 2 yrs old) with her Daddy everyday had gotten to her. She really misses Philip's attention and affection. She still tells me how much she misses him. When we arrived home she was so excited! Sara was as happy as can be. For the rest of the week she told me everyday,"Mommy, I so happy we are home !!!!" She was back to her old self in no time. Actually I'm glad to be back home too. I think our HOME is a "comfort zone" for all of us. This is where we feel safe ,secure and closest to Philip. I'm glad we went away for a little while. It was so nice of Giovanna & Silvo to take us along. I really appreciate that they did this for us.
Today I received a wonderful surprise email! I received an email from our dear driver Leonid in Lugansk, Ukraine! I cried when I read the email. I was so happy to receive it and at the same time I felt sad because I have to tell him the devastating news about Philip. I was hoping and praying that he would contact me. We exchanged addresses, phone numbers etc. just before we said our goodbyes. I had wanted to contact him months ago and I had misplaced his contact information. He said that he has never forgotten us and how we treated him. He mentioned that it was almost one year ago when we first met and that it feels like yeterday. He has asked for pictures and looks forward to hearing from us. I miss him. He was such a gentleman and a good friend.
Well I suppose that is all for now. Take care everyone and please post your messages as I look forward to reading them. Until my next post...........HAPPY SPRING DAYS EVERYONE!...........
Gina
posted by Gina Fortini @ 9:22 a.m.
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