Oh, the Places You'll Go

Those of you that have been around last year might remember that I had a bad brush with a disease called preeclampsia and I lost a baby 5 years ago. It's anniversary time again and this year I'd like to do something special in preparation for this.

While I was pregnant, I was happy to get ready for the baby and one of the things I did was to buy children's books. Among others, Dr. Seuss's "Oh, the Places You'll Go!"

To give you an idea of how clueless we were, the day before I was 3 hours away from home installing an application in Production. I drove home that evening and in the car, I happily sang "On top of the world" with Karen Carpenter. I fast forwarded through the "This is Good Bye my love" song that was right after. On Friday, Valentine's day, I went for an Ob visit and told the doctor that my blood pressure was high due to a Pepsi I drank the day before. Next I know I am in the best hospital around with an IV, a catheter and discussing how very sick I was with a bunch of High-risk Obs.

To make it short, I was very sick, the baby was very early and very small, and I had to be induced so I won't die. The baby was stillborn. It was a very dramatic night, also in the mid of the Big Snowstorm of 2003, with nurses and doctors being stuck in the hospital for days.

After this nightmare, my husband got home the evening his baby died and finds a box. He opens it and inside was a book: "Oh, the Places You'll Go". Since then he can't stand the book. He has a difficult time having it in the house and just yesterday told me that it will at least be another 5 years before he will be able to read it.

I start crying each time I see it as well, and could not read it to the end without crying. It must have been so difficult for him... this year I had the power to read the book and it is an incredible book. I would hate to not have my son read it and learn it.

For this year's anniversary of our son's death I am going to quote a paragraph of this book each day and find meaning in it. Enjoy! Do read it if you haven't already! It is wonderful!