BEN'S FUNERAL (part 3) THE PEOPLE!

We felt so loved by so many.  

We were overwhelmed by the HUGE support 

that was shown to us during HIS day.  

Ben's fan club continues to grow...

BEN'S FUNERAL (part 2) THE RECEPTION

We tried to choose things from Benjamin's life that would represent him well.  We picked some of our favorite pictures, stuffed animals, blankets and bibs.  I think he was represented perfectly.  Favorite picture of the day goes to "CHEEKS".  (aka: Benjamin 'Earnhardt' Orton)

The food tent was AMAZING.

Hats off to Chef Bonnie and all the many hard workers that pulled it off without a hitch.  I'm grateful for pictures because I was so mobbed with people that I never got a chance to enjoy their beautiful work.

The flowers were stunning.  So many arrangements all over the place, so beautifully breathtaking.

The people...we had over 500 people come.

(more on that tomorrow)

THANK YOU does not seem adequate for the gratitude that I feel for all the people that helped to make this day PERFECT!

BEN'S FUNERAL (part 1)

There are no words to describe HIS day.

Over 500 people came to celebrate Ben's life.

Steve's Police Department brought the color guard.

We were so honored.

The cousins carried lilies.

Family came from near and far.

We felt so blessed.

The service was beautiful.

It was perfect for my perfect little boy.

VISITING

I'm leaving for NH tonight.

I wanted to visit Ben's grave before returning home.

I was nervous and my stomach hurt.

I just can't believe it's real.

It seems so surreal.

The cemetery is beautiful and peaceful.

But it's still so hard.

I miss that boy with every fiber of my being...

LILIES

This process of Ben's death has been so very hard.

I'm completely exhausted from the whole weekend.

I've been carried by my elder brother, Jesus Christ

and by your many prayers.

YOU.

You have been a part of the process.

The GOOD part of the process.

Those that love and care so deeply for our family.

We feel that love.

We feel that love so deeply.

As I was preparing for Ben's funeral,

 I knew that LILIES were the flowers 

that I wanted to represent my sweet child.  

I contacted a friend who owns a local flower shop.  

I told her I needed about 45 Lilies for his special day.  

She donated them.  

I was so very touched.  

This is just one of the many blessings that we have received.  

And I know there will be many more to come.

CONSIDER THE LILIES OF THE FIELD:

"Consider the sweet, tender children

Who must suffer on this earth.

The pains of all of them he carried

From the day of his birth.
He clothes the lilies of the field,
He feeds the lambs in His fold,
And he will heal those who trust him,
And make their hearts as gold."

FAMILIES ARE FOREVER!

YUM!

THANK YOU for this 
most DELICIOUS gift.  

It made my heart smile.

JUST MAYBE...

J

Yesterday we dressed Benjamin.  It was the most sacred and wonderful experience coupled with such sadness...so many emotions felt.  I am so grateful to have been a part of it.  After we were finished, we left from there to go and buy some frames for the pictures that I had enlarged for Benjamin's funeral.  It was not what I wanted to do...after such an emotional day, I didn't want to be in public.  I was afraid to run into someone I knew.  Thankfully that didn't happen.  I was being watched over.  We went from there to a pizza place that a friend of ours owns.  He wanted to give us some pizza for dinner - a lovely gift.  As Stevie and I were walking out of the store my head was obviously somewhere else because I wasn't even paying attention to oncoming traffic as I stepped down from the curb into the roadway of the shopping plaza.  Stevie grabbed my arm and yelled, "MOM!" and pulled me back.  It was at that moment that I noticed a truck coming who had to step on his brakes suddenly.  As I looked to my left, to that truck and it's owner, I noticed the disgust on his face.  The fact that I would carelessly step right into the road without looking both ways.  He was shaking his head back and forth while talking into his cell phone, probably bad-mouthing me to whomever he was speaking to.  I gave him a quick look of sorry and hurried across the road.  What I really wanted to say is..."can I share with you what kind of day I JUST had?  Can I share with you that I JUST lost my son a week ago, and was JUST at the funeral home dressing his body?  Can I share with you JUST how HARD that was?"  Then maybe, just maybe, he would have been a little more compassionate at my absent mindedness.  Maybe it would teach him to be a little more compassionate to others when they do stupid things because just MAYBE they've had the kind of day that I did.  And then maybe I would have kindly reminded him that it was HIS responsibility to YIELD to pedestrians, even the sad, heart broken, absent-minded ones...