On Tuesday of last week, I received an email from Elizabeth Roles (our asst. rector at St. Mark's) with the subject "Parish Notice". I know when I receive this email that someone in the church has past. Usually it's an older member of the church that was knocking on heaven's door pretty hard anyway. When I opened the email, it said, "Peter Bouldin Andersen" died this morning in Dalton. I was heartbroken.
I left work immediately and went to pick up my children. I guess just to hug them and know they were still there. Bryleigh and Peter were pretty tight. Even though they were two grades apart, they still shared choir, Christmas pageants and any church youth activity together. They also went to the same school and saw each other at lunch and recess. I have really tried to raise Bryleigh "color blind". By this, I mean I never bring up color, disability, or any other handicap to her when we meet a new person unless she asks. Surprisingly when we joined St. Mark's she didn't even ask me about Peter, or his disability. She just saw him as a kid who gets to ride around in a "sit up" bicycle and she didn't. Peter would ride all of the kids around on the back of his wheelchair, which of course they loved! He could maneuver this thing better than I can walk! No one ever worried about how he was going to get from point A to B, we knew he could do it.
I was unbelievably grief stricken by his passing. He wasn't expected to live a week when he was born, but made it almost 10 years. His parents made an overwhelming effort to get done WHATEVER needed to get done in order to make his short life as normal as possible. He played sports, went to the beach, played the head of the donkey in this years Christmas pageant and co-piloted a plane. He was funny, smart, and so appreciative of life. I struggled until Thursday with the words to use to tell Bryleigh that her friend was gone. Because Bryleigh always saw Peter as "normal", she didn't really know he was sick. I began the conversation by telling her about "why" he was in the wheelchair. Muscular Dystrophy is a difficult concept for a 7 year old. After consoling her for a few moments, she looked up at me and said, "Well, at least Bear will have someone to run around and play with now". I wanted to break down and cry, but I waited until she went back outside.
Elizabeth did an unbelievable job at the burial service. This is her second parish death since Dean our rector has been on sabbatical. I am amazed by her strength and leadership in her role as "Priest In Charge". This week is VBS. I know it is hard on the kids, not having Peter there to ride them up and down the halls as he has done in years past, but I know that we are all better people to have know such an amazing 9 year old.
LOVE YOU PETER!!! MISS YOU VERY MUCH
I left work immediately and went to pick up my children. I guess just to hug them and know they were still there. Bryleigh and Peter were pretty tight. Even though they were two grades apart, they still shared choir, Christmas pageants and any church youth activity together. They also went to the same school and saw each other at lunch and recess. I have really tried to raise Bryleigh "color blind". By this, I mean I never bring up color, disability, or any other handicap to her when we meet a new person unless she asks. Surprisingly when we joined St. Mark's she didn't even ask me about Peter, or his disability. She just saw him as a kid who gets to ride around in a "sit up" bicycle and she didn't. Peter would ride all of the kids around on the back of his wheelchair, which of course they loved! He could maneuver this thing better than I can walk! No one ever worried about how he was going to get from point A to B, we knew he could do it.
I was unbelievably grief stricken by his passing. He wasn't expected to live a week when he was born, but made it almost 10 years. His parents made an overwhelming effort to get done WHATEVER needed to get done in order to make his short life as normal as possible. He played sports, went to the beach, played the head of the donkey in this years Christmas pageant and co-piloted a plane. He was funny, smart, and so appreciative of life. I struggled until Thursday with the words to use to tell Bryleigh that her friend was gone. Because Bryleigh always saw Peter as "normal", she didn't really know he was sick. I began the conversation by telling her about "why" he was in the wheelchair. Muscular Dystrophy is a difficult concept for a 7 year old. After consoling her for a few moments, she looked up at me and said, "Well, at least Bear will have someone to run around and play with now". I wanted to break down and cry, but I waited until she went back outside.
Elizabeth did an unbelievable job at the burial service. This is her second parish death since Dean our rector has been on sabbatical. I am amazed by her strength and leadership in her role as "Priest In Charge". This week is VBS. I know it is hard on the kids, not having Peter there to ride them up and down the halls as he has done in years past, but I know that we are all better people to have know such an amazing 9 year old.
LOVE YOU PETER!!! MISS YOU VERY MUCH
1 comment:
Beautiful tribute to young Peter, Ashley. So sad - but at least you all got to know him while he was here.
Post a Comment