Lessons learned....

Some of the lessons I have learned over the past three months:

 

1.       Be kind to everyone for each of us is fighting some sort of battle no one knows about

2.       Everyone has an opinion and many do not seem to know how to keep that opinion to themselves

3.       Many people think it could never happen to them

4.       You find out who your real friend are – fairly quickly

5.       People talk way too much and say really stupid things

6.       Some people don’t really care that you are hurting and living with the worst pain ever, they still expect and want from you like nothing ever happened

7.       Way to many people don’t have an opinion of their own..their opinions are based on what they are told by the media/news (big no no) or what their families believe

8.       Losing a child is worse than I could have ever imagined in my worst nightmares

9.       No words will make me feel any better – nothing anyone says helps ease the pain

10.   People are very judgmental

11.   People are selfish

12.   My husband and daughter are hurting more than most realize

13.   I will always be a grieving mother…the pain will never go away…. I will always have a void in my heart

14.   God provides me peace and comfort when I want to give up

15.   PTSD is a real thing and something I will have to live with the rest of my life

16.   Death does not escape any of us, don’t take each day for granted

17.   No matter how much you pray for you children’s safety – life happens and there are things you can’t protect them from

18.   No one can understand my exact pain except for God himself

19.   Most people do not understand what mental illness really is

20.   I will never have the answers to the why’s and what if’s on this earth

21.   I will never stop talking about or remembering Tommy – EVER

22.   Everyone needs someone they can depend on

23.   The biggest disappointment is having people say they are there for you but are nowhere to be found when you actually need them

24.   I will always keep faith

25.   I have become good at pretending and acting like I am ok when I am not

26.   I hope and pray that my story and Tommy’s life will help others

27.   I am humbled by the amount of love and support we have been shown

28.   Fear is real but is not of God

29.   The people you thought you could count on are not there and the ones you never thought would be there are

30.   Just because it’s been a few months since Tommy’s death, the pain and sorrow is as strong as if it were yesterday

31.   No matter how much I try the vision of my son the day I found him will never leave my mind

32.   Many feel if they don’t acknowledge it then it won’t happen to them

33.   Everyone wants to be your friend in the beginning but then quickly fall away

34.  Just because someone is smiling doesn't mean that they are happy