“He will cover you with his feathers.
\nHe will shelter you with his wings.
\nHis faithful promises are your armor and protection.” Psalm 91:4<\/i><\/b>
\nLabor day signifies so many things. \u00a0The end of summer. \u00a0The beginning of fall. \u00a0The start of the new school year. \u00a0The end of a love story.
\nLabor Day is actually \u00a0a public holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September. \u00a0It honors the American labor movement and the contributions that workers have made to the strength, prosperity, laws and well-being of the country.
\nWe all have our definitions of Labor Day. \u00a0What it means to each individual is different. \u00a0For me, Labor Day will always be the day before…
\nIt’s the day before my nephew Cody died. \u00a0Cody wasn’t just my nephew, he was like a son to me. \u00a0It’s hard to put into words how precious our relationship was, and in my mind still is. \u00a0I never had children. He and his sister Casey are the closest to children I ever had, and probably ever will have. \u00a0I’m grateful their Mom was so open in sharing them with me.
\nCody was 20 years old when he died. \u00a0Just months from his 21st birthday. \u00a0Trying to put into words a relationship that was as special as ours, which spanned that amount of time seems impossible. \u00a0There were weekend sleepovers, vacations, afternoons at the movies. \u00a0There were so many trips…D.C., Florida, Pennsylvania to name a few. \u00a0There were quiet afternoons at home. \u00a0There were trips to the beach, to the pool, to Water Country. \u00a0There was trick or treating and school trips. \u00a0Thanksgiving’s and Christmas’s. \u00a0Every moment was special.
\nCody, and his sister, made me a better person. \u00a0They made me want to be a better person for them. \u00a0I loved spending time with them. \u00a0I didn’t get married until after I was 40 years old. \u00a0I joke it was because of them, but in every joke you will find truth. \u00a0I preferred their company over anyone else. \u00a0Especially when they were young, and dependent on you. \u00a0Those were the best weekends, best vacations.
\nAs they got older, it was harder. \u00a0They didn’t want to spend as much time with Aunt Beth. \u00a0It was understandable, but it still hurt. \u00a0By the time Cody died, I hadn’t seen him in months. \u00a0We had talked and texted, but I hadn’t physically seen him. \u00a0The last time I did see him was at my Mom’s funeral. \u00a0It was as I was leaving. \u00a0He stood up and gave me the biggest, longest hug. \u00a0As I look back on it now, it’s as if he knew that would be the last time. \u00a0That hug would have to last me until we meet again in heaven.
\nCody was diabetic. \u00a0It was his diabetes that won the battle three years ago on Sept. 2. \u00a0The day after Labor Day, the day before my world changed forever. \u00a0It was a hard fought battle, in so many ways, but in the end, the disease prevailed.
\nThe day before was much like today. \u00a0I’m in the same place I was then. \u00a0The sun was shining, there was a slight breeze and I was with my husband. \u00a0We had had a wonderful weekend camping. I remember feeling sad when the weekend was over, not wanting to go back to our normal lives. \u00a0I had no idea what was in store for me.
\nIt was around 3:00 p.m. the next day when my brother called me. \u00a0I can still hear his voice telling me, “Cody is dead.” \u00a0I hear it often in my mind. \u00a0Almost like a reminder that he really is gone.
\nA lot has changed in the past three years. \u00a0A lot of it Cody would be thrilled with beyond words. \u00a0Things he wanted to see happen in his lifetime, which didn’t happen until he was gone.
\nIronically, he is still making me a better person. \u00a0I think of the wonderful person he was. \u00a0I think of how he loved me so purely. \u00a0I try to be worthy of that love. \u00a0Cody wasn’t perfect, no one is, but he was real. \u00a0He was genuine. \u00a0He was good.
\nOne thing though has not changed, my heart is still broken. \u00a0My love for him is stronger than ever. \u00a0And Labor Day will always be the day before my life changed forever. \u00a0It will always be the day before I lost Cody.
\nPsalm 91:4 is the verse that represents Cody to his Mom and sister. \u00a0Every time they find a feather they think of him. \u00a0It has come to represent Cody to us. \u00a0A reminder he is with God. \u00a0He is with his grandma. \u00a0One day we will be reunited again. \u00a0Until then, however, I still have work to do here on earth. \u00a0For now, I hold onto our last hug, grateful it was so memorable, knowing he knew how much I loved him.
\nIt is true, live at peace with everyone to the best of your ability. \u00a0None of us know how long we have. \u00a0None of us know when we’ll have a “day before”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.” Psalm 91:4 Labor day signifies so many things. \u00a0The end of summer. \u00a0The beginning of fall. \u00a0The start of the new school year. \u00a0The end of a love story. Labor Day is actually… Continue reading The Day Before…<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1593,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158\/revisions\/1593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}