Today, May 5th, is Cam's Birthday. He would have been 16.
Kristie and I knew last week what we would do today. We took the 4 girls to Cam's grave, wrote our personal notes on balloons and let them fly...it was windy so they had a wild ride. It reminded me alot of Cameron's life. He was always in a hurry to get from one place to the next, but never in a straight line. One of our traditions is to take the kids out to dinner wherever they want on their Birthdays. Cam was a huge meat-eater as you could imagine. His favorite place to eat was Rodizios Brazilian Grill at Trolley Square. He loved to eat the Chicken Livers and Buffalo and Most of all the Snake (of course, he would chow down on the regular Sausage and Sirloin too). Well, mostly the Girls say EWWW to that stuff. Cam also loved a good rack of ribs. His next favorite place is Texas Roadhouse. We celebrated Cameron on his Birthday by taking the family to Texas Roadhouse.
Kristie and I go out to on our anniversary every year. We love Texas Roadhouse too. As we sat with our girls waiting for our food, a guest at another table got the "Happy Birthday" song treatment. Wow.......I read somewhere that these moments are called "Blindsiders." You think you are handling things OK for the day when you are hit with something that completely throws you off. The realization that Cameron was not here for this celebration was dumped all over our composure. The food was excellent, but as Kristie said afterword, "That was the worst meal I've had in a long time."
We should have been planning a Birthday, not a funeral. Every day we try to look at the bright side. We cry with smiling faces when a family writes that a child has been touched by this tragedy and swear not to do drugs, quit drinking, or change some behavior. But at the same time wonder why it had to come to this to raise awareness to our neighbors.
Moms and Dads, your kid might be using.
"Cam?"
"Yeah"
"You OK"
"Yeah"
6 comments:
Happy Birthday Cam....Love and miss you.
Happy Birthday to Cam! I am sorry however that you had to be planning his funeral so close to his birthday. And had to have the Birthday celebration without him. Please know that he was not there physically but, i believe he was in spirit.
Cam.....really wish we could have thrown a giant suprise party. miss you more and more each day. hope you are watching our for all of us down here. :)
I thought about Cam all day yesterday. I would find myself saying in my head, "Happy Birthday, Cam." I love my family and I'm so proud that Cameron is a part of mine.
You don't know me. This blog has been forwarded down to the Health Department in Utah County. My husband, through the division of substance abuse, heads up a coalition down here called SMART (Substance Misuse & Abuse Reduction Team) The coalition is built from the community. Several parents on it have experienced the same horrific thing you have with your sweet son.
The coalition goes around creating awareness of the prescription drug abuse problem. Three bill were just passed at the legislative session to start helping the problem. Brad Daw is on the coalition, and together we created the bills.
I am telling you this so you know that people are trying to do something about it. More and more people are becoming aware. Your story is just feeding the fire that keeps them all motivated.
You and your family are on the thoughts of many that you have never met. You have certainly been in my prayers.
-Kelly Nordfelt
I am so sorry to hear about your loss. My family can truly relate cause my one and only brother is in a coma due to drugs. My heart breaks for your family cause I know what a nightmare this is. I have been graduated from high school for 10 years and have had 12of my class mates die from over doses. This is a huge mess. I want to help kids so this does not happen to them and there families. I saw your son and just cried. He reminds me so much of my brother. Please email me cause I really want to help others out. I think it starts with education and letting kids know all the facts. Like how your son took one pill. I am so sorry for you loss. No one should ever have to go through this. My email is Kasshenson@yahoo.com
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