4th of July

This year on the fourth of July – we decided to be social. We were invited to spend the afternoon and evening with our friends who also transplanted here from the Bay Area last summer. Their home is on Lake Washington, so the plan was to watch several different fireworks displays from their roof after dinner.

Since Matteo died sometime during the evening of July 4^th two years ago – I never look forward to this holiday anymore. It seems all too easy to replay every moment and wish we would have done everything different that day and night. But, I guess the thoughts of spending time with friends who were such a great support system to us after Matteo died seemed like a comfortable distraction for me/us.

The kids had so much fun playing together… the girls dressed up in a million different outfits, wrote notes to each other, colored, etc. The boys played with legos, planes, cars and built a very long train with all of Giovanni’s lego cars and airplanes. Dinner was great, and Dan & I always enjoy our conversations with friends. The sunset was beautiful, the fireworks were fantastic - we must have watched 3-4 different shows from the roof of their house. And, the kids really enjoyed getting cuddled up in their sleeping bags to watch fireworks with their friends.

I’m glad the kids were able to enjoy and celebrate the Fourth of July holiday this year. Gabby & Rocco even got to do sparklers for the first time – which they REALLY enjoyed. I often wonder if they’ll have mixed emotions about the holiday as they get older since it’s the anniversary of Matteo’s death.

As the sun was starting to set, creating a beautiful orange sky… Gabby noticed the moon (see photo) and told me she thought Matteo was sitting on it, waiting for the fireworks with us.

Yes, Gabby… he was… sitting right on that moon… waiting for the fireworks with us. Sigh...

Just wish I could have been hugging him tight too.