Judson's Legacy

loss of a child

Six Years Without Jud

Dear Judson, Life without you is now my familiar (just the idea of that is so crushing) and yet everything about living without you feels foreign, something to which I cannot become accustomed. When you died six years ago the world didn’t notice.  Everything kept moving as if nothing had happened. You weren’t a famous

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Freckles

I was gazing at your sister, Marveling at the recent explosion Of sun-kissed spots on her nose. Some tiny. Some full. Soft brown drops of pigment Sprinkled across her lightly-tanned face, Adding subtle character. So delicate. So real. The story of her life Unfolding in a distinct pattern On the canvas of her skin. So

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His Blanket

His Blanket

Most of Judson’s belongings now sit in a storage bin in our garage.  It’d been a couple years since I opened the plastic tub to engage its contents.  I use the word engage because the items contained therein cannot simply be browsed; they provoke, stir, and kick up memories, which can be both beautiful and

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Not So Typical

Not So Typical

On Christmas Eve we arrived with family at Judson’s gravesite armed with lawn chairs, blankets, decorations, and balloons—the usual fare to celebrate our boy’s birthday. But that’s what got to me most this year…it was the usual fare.  It was the same.  No new memories of our son.  No little boy to marvel at or consider his growth over

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50 Years

50 Years

Photo courtesy of The Orange County Register As I was sitting in my Starbucks office, typing away on my laptop, a sweet woman tapped me on the shoulder and, pointing at my necklace, asked, “Is that your son?” “Yes,” I smiled, leaving it at that. “Is that his age now or was that picture taken

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A Conscious Choice

A Conscious Choice

I was in my Starbucks “office” a few months back wearing my Jud Bud shirt when someone who followed our journey recognized me, introduced herself, and introduced me to her friend, Dana, who was pregnant at the time.  What I did not realize in that moment was how much my heart would grow to love

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Goodbye For Now?

Goodbye For Now?

Reader Question from Anonymous: Is there a point when we need to say “goodbye for now” to our beloved children who have gone on before us?  I found this to be an interesting question because the very nature of losing a child requires one to say “goodbye for now.”  It is not an option that

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Slipping Through My Fingers

Today is exactly one year from the morning we had our Neuro-Genetics Clinic where they sat us around a conference table and proceeded to tell us that Judson had a leukodystrophy (though they did not know which one), and from my research, I knew this equaled “terminal”. I sat there holding my beautiful, bright, vibrant,

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