Capture Your Grief 8,9,10: Jewelry, Special Place, Symbol

I was out of town and got behind, but now I'm back! 

Day 8 is Jewelry.  This ring was given to me just a couple of weeks after Kayla died, by my 4 best friends from high school.  They are the only group of friends that I've had that have stuck together over the years.  They know I don't wear a lot of jewelry, so they got me something understated...a birthstone ring with Kayla's birthstone (emerald).  For many months I wore it instead of my wedding ring, since my wedding ring was still too small.  I like having some small thing on my body that connects me to Kayla. 

Day 9 is a Special Place.  This is Kayla's little shelf that sits above our dresser in the bedroom.  My husband made the shelf.  It holds her urn, her picture, a couple of angels, a jewelry box with little memories in it.  Above are two plaques from Carruth Studios.  My parents unknowingly started a collection of them for us...giving us one when we got married.  Then they got us one when Kayla was born.  Another small one for Christmas, then another when Livia was born.  I love them! 

  

 Day 10 is a symbol.  This is a bad cell phone pic but it was taken at exactly 6:35 pm on Kayla's one year anniversary, the time she was born a year earlier.  We were at a nature lodge, out on the back deck overlooking a grove of hazelnut trees.  My husband was drinking a glass of wine and I was just watching the clock, trying to remember every detail from the year before and trying to block out that pain all at the same time.  Maybe I only saw it because I was paying attention to every detail, but right at 6:35 a small black butterfly landed on my husband's wine glass.  I had to snap a picture, because in the moment I did feel like it was a symbol of my sweet girl dropping in to say hello.