Connor's Birthday

I put up a short post yesterday. It included a picture from yesterday. I wanted to share a little more about our day. I can't believe a year has passed already. It went unbelievably quick. 

My mom and I spent the first part of the day together. We went to lunch, then we picked out some special balloons for the Angel of Hope. We got five balloons; red, orange, yellow, blue, and green. When we got to the Angel of Hope, I told my mom I wasn't going to release them. I wanted to just leave them at his brick. Right as I walked up to Connor's brick the red balloon untied somehow, and blew away. I joked with my mom that I guess Connor wanted that balloon. I said we can just leave the rest. Then, the orange one popped. 

At this point, I said I think he is saying he wants the stinking balloons, so we released them. 

When we got there, someone had been there before us. They left Connor some items, and us a very nice card with a beautiful poem. I wish I knew who left it, but they did so anonymously. 

It was so kind of them. I wish I knew who did it!

This is my favorite picture I took throughout the day: 

The Angel of Hope is holding Connor's urn, while his teddy bear rests below. The box the teddy bear is holding is an adorable balloon weight my mom bought. We plan to keep it and use it again.

*Additional fact from the day: My mom wanted copies of these pictures. We stopped at Walgreens to get them printed. Walgreens could not get them to print, because they kept getting a random red border. They said they had not seen this before. I think, maybe, Connor's favorite color is red. (the balloon and border were red)

Mike and I went out of town for the night, after he got off work. We spent the night at the Pere Marquette Lodge. It is a beautiful place. We got the same room we had last year for our wedding anniversary, with a view of the Illinois river. 

We were able to reflect together. To honor and remember Connor we shared some cake, and filled out a journal that an organization sent us. 

We also did a lot of relaxing. We enjoyed the hot tub, pool, and sauna. We shared a bottle of wine, while just relaxing in the room together. 

We needed this: 

I stressed out a lot trying to pick the right thing for us on Connor's birthday. People do a variety of things to remember their lost loved ones. I think this was perfect for us. I believe it would have stressed me out more trying to plan a gathering. We also needed the time together just to be alone, reflect, and relax.