Today we saw Darcy’s therapist for the first time in over a month. She has been doing so well, so we had agreed on spacing out her appointments a bit. There is a great deal of solace in the fact that we found ‘the one,’ this perfect woman who has spent so many hours with Darcy and I bonding over our shared loss. She has saved me in so many ways and truly helped me to become a more patient mother.
We often color, or play with legos, cars or a dollhouse. In the beginning, Darcy would play act with cars and create accidents, police, ambulances, everything that her little mind witnessed the day of the accident. Darcy wasn’t there when it happened, a reason for which I am eternally grateful. She came home to the aftermath, the helicopters, police tape and onlookers, she saw my car across the street and she knew that something really bad had happened.
We’ve worked hard with Darcy to help her identify her emotions instead of acting out and she has made incredible strides in opening up to her therapist and my husband and I. It’s hard to watch your child go through the loss of a sibling at any age, but at 5, death is still a foreign concept. She acts so mature sometimes, that I forget that she really still doesn’t understand.
Her therapist asked her today if she was scared that something would happen to me or Parker. Unsurprisingly, her answer was yes. She knows that I lost my mom to breast cancer and often asks me when I’m going to die, or if I’m going to get sick. She doesn’t get it and I’m mad that she has to.
Her therapist asked her tonight if she wonders if Parker and I will have more children. At first I was a little taken aback by this question because I really didn’t want to discuss my family plans with my 5 year old. What she said, shocked me. She wanted to know if I was going to have another little boy. She said we would call him Benny, Captain Crazy. She thought that we could make another Bennett. It broke my heart to explain to her that there was only 1 Benny. I told her that there was only 1 Darcy too, but she had just met a woman named Darcy on the walk, so naturally she corrected me. I tried to explain that every child is different, they look different and have different personalities. I reminded her of how different she and Benny were. I think she got it, but I don’t know. The fact that she thought that we could have ‘another Benny’ surprised me.
I love that she believes in magic and fairies and santa clause. I love her innocence. I wish we could all hold on to those beliefs as adults. At the same time, I wish she were older, it’s such a fine line to walk. I wish I could talk to her like an adult and know that she understands what I’m saying. I wish she were old enough to read this blog, I honestly cannot wait until she is. I want her to understand so badly. She’s my best friend, now I just have to wait for her to grow up.
I’ll be here future Darcy, waiting…
Sunshine, Angels and Rainbows 