love after death – Running Forward…My Way

A Fall Saturday in Maine

Published on October 2, 2018October 2, 2018 by kerrymckim1 Comment

This past weekend was probably an unremarkable weekend for most. I know here in the Northeast, many people went apple picking or visited a pumpkin patch.

I love fall activities but I know I was not going to enjoy last weekend because last Saturday would have been Bryon and my 6th wedding anniversary.

The truth is, as more anniversaries pass, the more alienated I feel. Not just from other, happily married, living people (i.e. NORMS, a term created by fellow widow Michelle Miller) but also from myself. As time goes back, I feel detached even from myself. Because I am no longer a happily married, living person.

So what does a formerly happily married, living person do on their wedding anniversary, particularly when the other half of their former happy union is a dead person?

Well last year, our anniversary fell on a Friday. So I took Kimmy Gibbler out for a steak lunch at Black and Blue Steak and Crab. The food was amazing.

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This year our anniversary was on a Saturday. Taking Kimmy Gibbler out for steak wouldn’t have worked because our kids would be home from school.

I am kidding, of course.

The truth was, I didn’t want to be in town that day. I didn’t feel like sitting around my house or staying in the town where every place has some memory of Bryon.

So I drove home to Maine for the weekend.

That day my father, my daughter and I went on a day trip.

Our first stop was the scenic lookout at Caterpillar Hill in Sedgwick, Maine.

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I don’t know what my hair was doing in that picture. We were near the ocean so it was windy.

Then we crossed over the Deer Isle-Sedgwick Bridge.

We passed the Little Deer Isle, Maine post office. This was the post office that my father worked at when he first became postmaster. This also was the promotion that brought my family to Maine from the Boston area.

We drove down to Pumpkin Island Light.

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It felt so good to feel the fresh air of the ocean. The ocean has always been my happy place. There is something about it that re-centers my soul and reminds me just how insignificant we really are.

We drove around Deer Isle but I didn’t get any pictures.

On the way home, we stopped at The Fish Net in Blue Hill to get fried clams for lunch and a chicken fingers lunch for my daughter. I went to the takeout window while my father stayed in the car with my daughter, who was napping.

Being home and being around the ocean always makes me reflective.

Lately I have been taking a step back socially to focus on my daughter, to reflect on my life, to take care of myself and to prepare for the next chapter in my life. I admit, it makes me a little uneasy to look towards the future and not know what to expect. I have always been a person who liked to have a two year, five year and ten year plan.

Currently, I don’t even have a two month plan.

At times, I feel lost.

A little over two and a half years ago, I still had a husband. We had just returned from a Caribbean cruise and we had our whole lives ahead of us.

And then that was taken away.

I may have gotten over the basic shock and I have accepted that this happened. But now I am working on letting go and redefining myself and my dreams.

Please trust me when I say that it’s a lot harder than it sounds.

I was thinking about this as I stood at that clam shack on the Maine Coast when I looked up and saw this:

At that moment, I realized that no matter where I go or how my dreams change, Bryon will be there with me.

I mean, seriously, if he can find a way to be with me while waiting for my lunch at a clam shack on the Maine Coast, then he will find a way to be with me anywhere.

And that was the best anniversary present I could have gotten.

Happy third birthday in Heaven

Published on August 29, 2018August 29, 2018 by kerrymckim6 Comments

Today’s post will be a quick post. I just wanted to share a few photos on how we celebrated Bryon’s birthday.

His birthday is exactly one week after his deathaversary but I try not to dwell too much on his deathaversary. I prefer to celebrate the fact that he had lived.

My daughter and some friends released balloons at the cemetery.

“Table Top” in the grass. Nice to see gymnastics class pay off.

Balloon-Release!

UP…

…UP…

…And AWAY!!!!

I am sure he enjoyed them. Especially when I got in the car and one of his favorite songs came on. He saves this one for birthdays and happy occasions.

After the cemetery, we had dinner at one of Bryon’s favorite restaurants, Swifty’s.

I enjoyed my first Sam oktoberfest.

I don’t care if it’s still August. It’s been a hot summer and the humidity has been wicked. I am so over it.

I love these people. They have stayed with me through thick and thin. Of course, a few were unable to attend and we missed them.

I feel like I should write something more profound but between the fact that last week was Bryon’s deathaversary and this week is his birthday and my birthday tomorrow, my head kind of feels like it is going to explode. I have been emotional and cried a lot but I am okay.

The good news is that I am leaving on a birthday girls trip tomorrow but I have a lot of things to do between now and then.

So this post is going to have to be enough.

Thanks for reading along.

Two years

Published on August 21, 2018August 21, 2018 by kerrymckim8 Comments

Two years.

I am trying to let that sink in.

Two years ago I was sitting next to you during the last hours of your life.

We were both clinging on in a way.

It was what I imagine Purgatory to be like.

As much as I wanted the agony to be over, I had no choice to but to cling and wait out our last hours and minutes together. Because once Purgatory was over, you were going to be dead.

(There was no way, at that time, to foresee the agony that would follow during the months after).

I don’t know why you were clinging on but you did. I am sure it was because of some deep spiritual meaning that I can’t understand in this human form.

Or maybe you were waiting for Chelsea to score even though we weren’t watching a game. Besides, your heart stopped beating at 6:47 am which is probably still too early, even for English Premier League Soccer.

I am in a much better place now than I was last year.

Your first deathaversary really kicked me on my ass. It put me in a funk that I couldn’t seem to shake off until Christmas.

Last year I would have said that your death made a big impact in my life.

Which it did.

But now I realize that your life had an even bigger impact than your death.

I will probably never understand why our years together were so short but I am grateful that I had you for as long as I did.

I am grateful for the memories and all I learned from you.

You loved me at my worst.

Sadly, you never got to experience me at my best.

I’d like to think that you would be proud of me.

I am better person because of your love.

You always believed in me.

You were right. I am a lot smarter than I ever gave myself credit for. Though I am sure you roll your eyes a lot every time I mess something up or forget to do something.

I remember how appalled you were when we were in our dating days when I half-joked that whenever I hear a noise in my car, I would turn the music up and hope that the noise went away. You told me that you were going to take care of the car and I happily obliged.

Well, I’ve actually kept up on car maintenance. I even checked with my Dad to make sure there wasn’t anything I might have forgotten and he said I was all set.

Though, truth be told, I am too scared to let car maintenance slide since I drive with our daughter in the car. If it were just me…then…eh…

But I have been trying hard to learn these new skills. Because you aren’t hear to take care of the things you used to take care off.

Last year I was still grasping the concept that you died.

This year I am grasping the concept of how much time has passed since you were gone.

I used to marvel at how much has changed since you were here but now I can’t help but notice how much has changed since those early months after you died.

It might seem silly but it started when I noticed that the heels on my boots were wearing out. And then I remembered that I bought those boots after you died. How can it be possible that you have been dead long enough where I can wear out a pair of boots?

Friendships have run their course.

(Do you remember when I used to let people walk all over me and use me? I would get so upset and those offenders and the situations always angered you. At the time, I didn’t realize that it hurt you to see me hurt. You encouraged me to stand up for myself more. Well it is safe to say that I don’t out up with being treated poorly anymore.)

You died a month before our daughter turned two. Now she is almost 4 and she is going to be starting pre-K. And your best friends son who was born after you died is almost 2. I am not going to lie but your absence hurts the most during their milestones, first and achievements. You not here to see them grow up.

At this time last year, I was still struggling with adjusting to life without you.

Now, I feel like I am used to you being gone. Or maybe I am just used to your absence always being present. But I know that nothing is going to bring you back.

I have to accept that this is our story even if it’s not the ending I would have written for us.

I keep hearing that you are supposed to live in the Present. But my Present feels like I am living in limbo between two different worlds.

One of the worlds I live in consists of the past. While I am not in denial about your death, part of me is having a hard time letting go of the past. It just feels like every time I complete a task, your existence on Earth is erased just a little each time.

I took your name off of the bank account. It was time. The process only took about ten minutes and the guy working at the bank was really nice but when I got back to the car, I cried.

People talk about you less. When you first died, everyone was willing to talk to you and share memories. Now it feels like I can only talk about you with a small group of people. I guess most people have moved on. I am not quite ready to move on.

It feels like you have been forgotten.

I don’t want you to be forgotten.

I also live the other life that consists of the future. I hope it’s a happy time.

I live in a world where I am so ready for that next chapter. Whatever it might have in store for me.

Though I get overwhelmed when I think of all I need to do physically and emotionally to get to the next chapter.

I have been in a deep sadness for two years but I know I can’t stay this sad forever.

I am tired of feeling sad.

This type of sadness takes so much energy out of me.

And I know you don’t want me too. You want me to live my life to the fullest.

But you are one hard Mo-Fo to get over, Bryon McKim.

You changed my life and I will never meet anyone like you. But maybe from here I am supposed to be the one changing people’s lives? I am still trying to figure this out.

I want to be happy again.

I am ready for my next chapter.

No matter what happens, I will love you forever, BCM.

I promise I will never forget you.

Soulmates

Published on November 8, 2017 by kerrymckim3 Comments

The other morning, I was driving to my gym and I was listening to some talk show and the talk show hosts were discussing the concept of soulmates. Particularly, they were discussing if every person had just one soulmate or several soulmates. One of the hosts leaned toward the attitude that we only have one soulmate while the other thought that if everyone only had one soul mate that it would be statistically impossible to meet them.

People were calling in with their opinions. One lady said she was married to her soulmate and she had spent the last 31 years married to him.

This pissed me off. Because if we only have one soulmate that means that mine was dead or I haven’t met him yet and Bryon was not my soulmate.

Frankly, I don’t like either option.

Why should all the married, non-widowed people get determine this? What makes them so special? Aren’t they special enough because they didn’t have to go through what I did?

But I shouldn’t let these people determine what love is for me. While I truly respect- and envy- these people who have been married for decades, they don’t know what it is like to watch the one that you thought you were going to spend the rest of your life with die.

They also don’t know what it is like to experience soulmate love that transcends death. Because love doesn’t die.

I was also pissed because I used to believe in this notion that we only had one soulmate. Until the world as I knew it ended and the foundation of everything I believed was shattered.

And no offense to that caller, or to anyone who ascribes to that theory but it is naive.

I was naive.

Bryon was my Husband. He was also my best friend, the love of my life, my other half, my partner in crime, my co-pilot and my one and only.

He is my soulmate.

My Grandma Sullivan lived until she was 90 and my Nana Crowley is still alive at age 95. Both of my grandfathers lived until their 80’s. Grandma Sullivan had an aunt in Ireland who lived to be 98. Nana Crowley had an aunt who lived to be 111. (She was New England’s oldest resident when she passed)

I have the potential to be on this planet for a long time. I also could be hit by a bus tomorrow but I don’t want that to happen. My daughter would have to miss her gymnastics class and I am supposed to be going to a concert.

But seriously, I would love to meet my great-grandchildren.

But if we only get one soulmate then I would be lonely for the next 50 or more years. The thought of that makes me sad.

Also if I were to get married again and my new husband was my soulmate, then what does that make Bryon? That makes me sad too.

And I still too sad to even think about having a second soulmate right now but I know what when I am ready, I still have a lot of love left to give.

When I was younger, I was not good at dating. I was told I was intimidating. I had low self-esteem and could not imaging why I could be perceived as intimidating but now I know that it is because I am smart and I was closed off to people and standoffish. If any guy was interested, they were going to fail because I was not going to give my heart to anyone.

I convinced myself that I didn’t need anyone. Truthfully, I was lonely.

But Bryon saw something. And he was not intimidated. Or he never let on if he was. He saw through my tough facade and broke down my walls.

Bryon is my soulmate.

I will never understand why our time had to be so short. But I know with every fiber of my being that we were meant to be together. I am who I am now because of Bryon. He challenged me. He changed my way of thinking.

He taught me how to live.

He taught me so much that I will carry those lessons until I die. I hope those lessons live on in our daughter.

And when the day comes that I do leave this Earth, Bryon will be right there waiting for me.

And I know when it is time to meet my next soulmate, he will be an amazing man. He won’t be like Bryon. Bryon was one of a kind.

My second soulmate will be his own person.

But I am not the same person I once was so it wouldn’t make sense to look for someone like Bryon.

I am more open to people and I hope I am less stand-offish. But dating a widow or widower is intimidating. Especially when the widows deceased spouse is such a legendary person.

And my second soulmate will have to accept that I would always have love for another man. My second soulmate will have to understand that a widows heart expands.

My second soulmate will be amazing because Bryon would not let me settle for anything less. He would find a way to communicate to me if he thought I was making a poor choice. He would probably have “Last Christmas” by Wham! playing on every radio station, on repeat, because he knows that that is my personal vision of Hell.

Maybe I am the lucky one because I will the potential to experience “one and only” soulmate love twice?

Am I dating?

Published on October 15, 2017 by kerrymckim2 Comments

I get asked this question a lot.

Personally, I am perplexed as to why people think it is okay to ask me this question. I know I have been very open about my grief journey. I know that I write flippant messages on my Facebook particularly when there are bugs in my house or that there is snow to be shoveled. But there is something about being bluntly asked about dating that feels a little too personal.

I don’t mind these questions from my closest friends because they are my confidants. Maybe people see how I relate to my closest friends and they assume that since I open about so many things that I am open about my romantic life or lack thereof.

But lately these questions seem to be coming more and more from people that don’t really need to know.

It has only been a little over a year.

I understand that being a widow at my age is unusual. I get that people are curious.

Why can’t people just understand that I am still healing?

Why can’t people just understand that I want to focus on myself and my daughter?

Obviously, relationships can be a very good thing with the right partner. You learn new things, you explore new interests and places, broaden your horizons. The right person can make you become a better person and enrich your life. I still believe that love exists even for the hurting and I sincerely look forward to when I am ready for that. I don’t doubt that it will happen. It will when I am ready for it. Maybe it will be like a Hallmark movie since widows have the most interesting love lives on that channel.

But a relationship involves two people and there they also require a lot of compromise. I know that from being married. I am not ready for that kind of compromise. Especially when any relationship and any compromises that affect it will also affect my daughter. And I want to do what I want to do before I enter a relationship again. I don’t want to answer to anybody yet.

And while I am sitting here talking about relationships, that is assuming that dating would lead to a relationship. Usually one has to date a lot before finding a relationship. I have never been good at dating. I have zero intention of going online or going on dates with random men for the sake of just dating. No desire for awkward coffee dates. No desire to look at profiles.

I get offers to help set up online profiles. I have zero interest in online dating. I personally don’t see any romance in that process.

Plus there is a difference between being open to a relationship should it happen and actually being out there looking for a relationship. I am not looking for a relationship.

I had eight years of an amazing love story with an even more amazing man. I still miss Bryon too much to date. I will date someday, but to start dating again is not something any widow or widower takes lightly. It is a major decision to decide you are ready to let someone into your heart again. I am also I am aware that tomorrow I might meet the perfect man. A man who is understanding of my widow status and the place Bryon has in my heart and that Bryon will always be a part of my life. A perfect man would understand that a widow’s heart can grow to love another man. I am fully resigned that I could meet this guy at any time and I would give that a chance.

But until that time happens, please understand that I can be content just where I am. If I want to talk about whether I am dating or not, I will bring it up.

For my daughter: your birth story

Published on September 20, 2017September 20, 2017 by kerrymckim3 Comments

You were supposed to be born on or before September 14, 2014. But you had other plans.

On Thursday, September 18, 2014 I woke up around 4 am and I was convinced I was in labor. You father was too and he started to pack his bag. He said we were having a baby that day.

I called the OB/Gyn. They told me to come in which we did.

They hooked me up to the machine to measure contractions.

Your father tells me about how someone asked him how many centimeters dilated I was. Your father said that he thought it was weird, that that person was asking about my vagina- his wife’s vagina. I said that that person wasn’t asking in that way and it didn’t matter because I had heard that when you are delivering a baby, you don’t care. Your father then said “Like that time on Saved by the Bell when Zack had to deliver Mr. Belding’s baby in an elevator.” I said “Now that would have been awkward.”

We sat there for a half an hour and the contractions had stopped. We weren’t having a baby that day. But we scheduled an induction for Monday, September 22, 2014.

I was in a bad mood and I didn’t go back into work. I was tired of people asking me where the baby was.

The next day, Friday, September 19, 2014 and it started out just like the day before except your father didn’t get excited pack a bag. The morning passed but my contractions were still 10 minutes apart. I took a nap. I kept having to stand up. I had back labor and it hurt. I told your father that you were going to be an only child.

Your father had refused to take any childbirth classes. He remembered seeing an episode of Murphy Brown where she took a childbirth class and the other parents were tools. He didn’t want to be in a class with tools. For an extremely intelligent man, he sure had times where he had trouble separating fictional TV scenarios and real life.

I was in the middle of a contraction and your father said “Maybe we should have taken that childbirth class…”

I look at him. He told me that when I looked at him, he couldn’t tell if I was going to laugh or if I wanted to murder him.

Evening came and contractions were still 8-10 minutes apart. I told your father that I heard walking helped with labor so we went to the mall. So it was a busy Friday night at the mall and your father and I just slowly walked the perimeter of the mall. We stopped every 8-10 minutes.

During the overnight, my contractions finally got closer together. We went to the hospital around 3 am. I had been in labor for about 24 hours at this point.

I got my epidural and like was good for several hours. They thought I would be pushing around 3 pm.

Well 3 pm became 4 pm. And then 5 pm. And 6 pm.

You could say I was not a happy camper.

I just wanted you out of me.

It was decided that after 42 hours of labor, I was going to have a C-section.

They doctors were getting ready. Your father put on scrubs. The anethesiologist asked if anyone had a questions. Your father said he did. The anethesiologist is polite and said “okay…” and your father gestures toward the scrubs and asks “Does this make me look fat?” The anethesiologist burst out laughing.

Your father also used that joke on the nurses and they thought he was hysterical. Your father was proud.

So I will spare you the details of the c-section. I do remember that once you were born, they asked your father to announce if you were a boy or girl as we didn’t find out. He just stood there looking at you. I couldn’t take the suspense and I said “Well, did we have a Maddy or a William?” Your father just smiled in awe and said you were a girl.

The second you were out of me, I was given morphine. I remember that I was suddenly transported from the operating room to a yellow foam fun house and I thought it was awesome. Your father was there with me in the fun house wearing his scrubs. And then as quickly as I was transported there, the fun house just melted away and I was back in the operating room. But your father didn’t move.

I kept talking about the yellow foam fun house. My obstetrician said that she was starting to get jealous because this yellow foam fun house sounded cool. I kept alternating between being excited about the foam fun house and being excited about your birth.

Since I was too drugged up, your father held you first. They placed you in his arms and the first thing he said was “Oh my God. You are so cute.”

I stayed in the hospital for several days. The highlights:

1) You saw Top Gun with your father when you were a day old.

2) Your father watched the Bills with you on his laptop.

3) At one point you were crying and he was holding you. He started to sing to you but it wasn’t helping. I was half asleep and said “She likes “Let’s Hear It For The Boy'” (You did in utero). Your father then sang the whole song, word for word. I feel like I should be surprised that he knew the words but I am not. And it worked. You stopped crying.

We celebrated your first birthday a day early on Saturday, September 19, 2015. We didn’t want your party to be overshadowed by the Bills playing. We had a Minnie Mouse theme and a taco bar.

When we celebrated your first birthday, we had no idea that it was going to be your last birthday with your father.

As we celebrate your second birthday without him, it still feels unreal. The only birthday he was at is the one you definitely won’t remember.

It is just so unfair.

At least once a day, I think about how you are going to grow up without him, without remembering him, without every knowing him in his earthly form.

And every time you do something new or funny, I am reminded that he won’t get to see you grow up. He used to tell me that he couldn’t wait until he could talk because you would probably say the funniest things.

Every time you reach a new milestone, he won’t see that.

Every time you say something funny, he isn’t here to laugh.

He got robbed of that.

You got robbed.

Life can be so cruel. And I know soon you are going to start asking questions. I dread that but I won’t hide anything from you.

But I want you to know that your father loved you so much. You were the center of his world when he was here. And I know wherever he is, he loves you very much. His death doesn’t change that.

And many of the people around you loved him too and they love you too. And we all can’t wait to celebrate your third birthday.

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