We spent the first day in Key West. We just walked around and went into a lot of shops that day. One of the first things we saw was a stand with seashells that had names on them. We looked and right away found one with Ella's name on it. We bought two. I love Ella's name. I love to see it written out. Everytime I see anything with names on it, I find myself searching for hers.
The second day, we stopped in Cozumel, Mexico. We took a bus to the beach, and spent the afternoon there. It was a beautiful day. The beach was gorgeous, the food was great (we had a buffet at the beach...of course). Then after our beach time, we spent a couple of hours in the city. I really enjoyed that day. I think this is probably the first time since we lost Ella that I can truly say I felt this way.
There were moments that were hard- especially seeing all of the families on the ship with their little girls. That always sends me to "this isn't how it should be" thoughts. And, there was one night at dinner when our waiter was asking "did we have any children? were we going to have children soon?" He was laughing and being friendly. We were seated with strangers, and we didn't say that we had children. I felt horrible again- I hate answering like that. I have been saying "yes, a daughter in heaven" but sometimes it just catches me off guard.
But, the majority of the trip was great. I am so thankful that we were able to celebrate our anniversary and enjoy ourselves. I had a great time with my wonderful husband.
I love you Ella! I miss you so much!
Cozumel, Mexico
Shell from Key West
I am telling you this late but happy anniversary! the shell is beautiful. I will never hear the question the same "how many children" or "do you have children?" I cannot imagine how much more difficult it would be when you lost your first child.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you guys had a good vacation!
Im glad you guys had a good time! and even better that the weather behaved!
ReplyDeleteThe shell is beautiful, love the colors!
So glad you had a great and special time on your cruise! Beautiful shell - very neat the way that it's carved out of the shell itself.
ReplyDeleteHappy to hear that your cruise went well and you had good weather. I remember the first time I got caught off guard answering how old are your children and I wanted to say "Lilly was 6 days old" but it caught me so off guard that I didn't. And it made me feel so awful. All I can say is unfortunately there will be moments like that which catch us off guard and how we respond is going to vary from each one to the next. You have nothing to feel guilty about, you know that Ella is your daughter and she knows you are her parents and that's all that matters in the end. *hugs*
ReplyDeletelove the shell. love you. Ella loves you and so does Jesus. ;)
ReplyDeletehugs,
Melissa
Oh, I am SO glad to hear this....I worried and worried about whether or not the weather was going to affect you or change port calls or anything....I'm so, so, so happy to hear that you were able to still go and that you were able to relax some and enjoy yourself.
ReplyDeleteI nodded SO much as I read your words!!! Especially the dinner with strangers. Every situation just seems so hard.
I love the Ella pictures. Just beautiful.
xoxoxo