The Holidays are Over. Now What?

The holidays are behind us. The merriment, festivities, celebrations are over. Should be a relief, yes? After all, holidays without a loved one are anything but happy and joyous. So if we can get through those days we can breathe a sigh of relief, right? WRONG! Now that the holidays are over we are approaching the dates. Diagnosis day. The day my father died. The day Ariella was admitted to the hospital for her bone marrow transplant. The day she got the transplant. The day she went to the ICU. The day she was intubated. And you all know the rest. The hours and hours spent in the hospital from February to May. The initial joy, hope, and optimism leading quickly to worry, fear, and devastation. The weather changing the seasons shifting, while we were trapped in the hospital room praying and praying for a positive outcome. Months of our lives, never for a second thinking that Ariella would never see the outside of a hospital room again, until that final setback. Until there was nothing more that could be done. Until we had to make the decision to stop treatment, stop life support, and say goodbye to our daughter. How can life turn that quickly? How can the vibrancy and exuberance of a child be snuffed out too soon? With no warning? We knew she wouldn’t feel great after the transplant but we never imagined the nightmare that awaited us. If only we could. Maybe we would have made different decisions, done things differently. The “what ifs” slay me.

We are in a new year, a new decade. One in which Ariella never lived. Evidence that time continues to move forward no matter how much I will it to stop, turn backwards, reset. The only comfort is that the passage of times means I’m that much closer to being reunited with Ariella. That time cannot come soon enough. I don’t know how I am going to get through these days, these years, these decades without my girl. This was going to be an exciting year. Ariella’s Bat Mitzvah. Entering the last year of middle school. A cruise finally taken that we had to cancel when Ariella was first diagnosed. Dancing and getting back on stage again. Two years ago, 2017 into 2018, we celebrated Ariella ringing the bell for finishing treatment, just to relapse 5 months later. In January 2019 Ariella rang the bell after finishing radiation and scans following radiation showed no evidence of active disease. We were thrilled she was eligible for bone marrow transplant and were optimistic that if we could just get through that and her recovery, that 2020 would be a fantastic year of health and joy and no evidence of disease. 2018 was supposed to be that year for us, but her relapse took care of that. 2019 was then supposed to be the year that she was cured. Instead of celebrating life and new beginnings in 2020, all I can think about are the countless years ahead I have to get through.

I’ve realized this is a common theme among bereaved parents, especially of those whose children died within the last year. I’ve seen many posts about how they just wish time would stop. They don’t want to enter a new year without their child. They don’t want the evidence that time moves forward, that life goes on. But the other common theme is being glad to be one year closer to being reunited, one year closer to no longer having this pain, one year closer to no longer having to live without our children. I have no idea what this year holds for me. I have had several tell me they hope this is a better year. But how can it be? Because even though Ariella died last year, her absence is forever. I guess a better year would be one without a tragedy, but it’s still a year in which Ariella never lived. And honestly, I’ve been through, am still going through, the worst thing a person can experience so anything this year throws at me will never compare to experiencing the loss of my daughter. I was never big on New Year’s Eve but I did look forward to the fresh start of the new year. But now I just don’t give a shit. Whatever happens, happens. Just another 12 months to suffer through.