Good Evening!
Today is Sunday May 27, 2012, Memorial Weekend….
While I have posted since Janelle left us, in my mind this seems like Post #1 of the new journey. I am still not sure exactly how long this will go and where this will take us however since the majority of the comments I am getting suggest we should continue, continue we will. I have lots of thoughts about things I can share in the weeks and months ahead that will be very special. There will be some humor as I reflect back on many of Janelle’s posts and provide you the “Ken” comments on many things she talked about.
Today’s post won’t be too long in words however depending on your interest you may end up here for many hours. Warning in advance…..these videos are sweet, but some of them bring me to tears immediately.
Grief…there is a lot of it right now. I will explore that with you more also in the weeks ahead because it is really crazy….fine one minute, crying another minute, wanting to be around people sometime, sometimes not wanting to be around people. I have such a great support network of friends that hang out with me and talk when I want to talk, don’t talk when I don’t want to talk. I also of course have Britt and Ian, both of who have been huge to my healing over the last two weeks. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers, they have lost their Mom. They are very concerned about their Dad but I am equally concerned about their healing.
OK, how about this picture? In the many pictures I came across this week, this one really hit a chord. Janelle loved her job, every aspect of it however no question her favorite time of the day was morning car pool, greeting the children, greeting the Moms (Dads & Grandparents as well). Look at that smile! How could kids not want to jump out of the car? How could caregivers not feel comfortable leaving their children in her care?
I took my first trip out of town this weekend. I even took Roxy with me. Short, went to Raleigh for one day/night to hang out with Britt and Kenneth and celebrate the birthday of their niece with the Freeman family. Special group of people we are now involved with. Happy Birthday Little Girl……
OK, I wanted to recap our activities Honoring Janelle. Below are several links to various videos. A brief explanation is included for each one. If you decide to view any of these and have a problem, please let me know as this is my first attempt at streaming video. Again, depending on your relationship with Janelle and the rest of our extended family, be warned that tears may develop….
Janelle Marie Clausen Hayes – Video Tribute. This is a collection of pictures starting very early in Janelle’s life. This was shown repeatedly at the visitation without the music. We shuffle played her iPhone 280+ Praise & Worship Songs instead. (13m 21s).
Janelle Marie Clausen Hayes – Craft Montage w/ Music. This was put together and all credit goes to our Worship Pastor (Brad). I added some music but again, no credit to me. This was shown a few times at church in the weeks before Janelle left us as they discussed the situation and prayed for us. (2m 13s).
Janelle Marie Clausen Hayes – Random Pictures. I decided I wanted pictures of the three services where we Honored My Janelle. My niece kept the camera handy and captured many pictures from the Visitation, Burial, Cousins Get Together and Celebration Services. Thank you Sarah! (8m 27s).
Janelle Marie Clausen Hayes – Sister’s (and brother-in-law) Thoughts and Reflections. This was also the work of the Worship Pastor at our church (thanks again Brad). We had not quite decided who would talk at the Celebration service so Brad pulled these family members aside at the Visitation to provide some reflection. (4m 28s).
And finally……
Janelle Marie Clausen Hayes – Celebration Service. This is the entire Celebration Service Video. It is very long. It is very Honoring. You will see bits of the above videos in this including the entire Sister’s video. Again, rather long but I wanted to provide it to you if you were interested. (1h 27m 39s).
Thank you for all of your encouragement. It has and does mean a lot to me. My plan is to be back next Sunday with at least a short update, perhaps a couple more pictures of My Janelle.
Ken
Strength & Peace to you…….Psalm 29:11
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