Celebrate Birthdays! A Makenzie Post

Death takes away. But it can’t take away my ability to celebrate my Makenzie’s thirtieth birthday!

Makenzie! Has It Really Been 10 Years?

There is a common phrase that says, “Time heals all wounds.” I appreciate the author’s sentiment. However, that phrase is unfinished, and I’ll tell you why in a bit. 10 years ago today, my “oldest” daughter (in my mind, still) and two friends were in a horrific car accident. Aaron, the driver of the car

Makenzie Still Impacts Lives Today

So this just happened. Mom and I went to refresh the flowers at the intersection at which Makenzie died. Afterward, a woman came up and said 10 years ago, she and her husband were coming home from church and came upon the accident. It was a Wednesday, June 03, 2009. They pulled into the gas

My Makenzie Monsoon

A few hours before dark, eight years ago today, my Makenzie left.  She wasn’t sure she wanted to go but the lure of a ballerina photo shoot was too strong to resist.  I was sitting at my computer in our little office by the back door as she leaned over and gave me a kiss

Seven Years Afloat: Makenzie Home-going Anniversary – Todd Stocker.com

Seven years ago, I thought my anchor gave way.  My life’s-boat was set a drift in a storm called “the death of a child” when my oldest daughter, Makenzie, was killed in traffic accident. Yet what I found was my anchor was more secure than ever.  The pain, the grief, the emptiness and the heartbreak were

043: SPECIAL: Celebrating Makenzie’s Last Birthday [Podcast] – Todd Stocker.com

May 3rd is my Makenzie’s birthday.  She only saw 18 of them before she was killed in a car accident.  Here are my thoughts on this day. Free Resource: “Helping Those Who’ve Lost A Loved One” It was her last birthday but none of us knew it.  In life you never do.  Yet deep down,

Why Is There Pain? – Todd Stocker.com

Coming up on seven years ago, I lost my precious Makenzie.  Suddenly taken, I was suddenly shaken; set adrift in an ocean that I didn’t want to sail.  It took me several years to find emotional land again and when I did, I had to deal with the ‘Why’ question with which most of us

A Makenzie Restoration

The dreams about her have subsided. I don’t think about her everyday as I have in years past and I’m needing to play old audio to remember her voice. Six years ago today, my oldest daughter, Makenzie — who is now my youngest — was invited into heaven.  “Six years” is a long time as I

LIFE IMPACT: MAKENZIE AND QUINN

They didn’t know each other and we didn’t know her.  Yet last Friday, we all connected. I opened up my email and saw one sent from, “Quinn.”  I don’t know any one bearing that name.  Spam had spammed me I thought.  As is my habit on these junky occasions, I hovered my cursor and right clicked

Makenzie: Five Times Now, Today.

I’m up earlier than normal again.  The last few weeks have stolen hours of sleep from me, most likely because of today. Five times now, I’ve endured the turning of this calendar page without my oldest daughter Makenzie.  Five times now, this day has kept me from work, from happiness and from others.  Five times

Makenzie: Five Years Old

Today is my ‘oldest’ daughters birthday.  There won’t be presents.  There won’t be cake.  You won’t find our family all together dining at her favorite restaurant or sharing stories of past celebrations around the table. Makenzie has graduated from all of that.  Her final birthday celebration was five years ago today, a month before she died.

A Thank You to Facebook

Facebook.  Good-to-do’s call it a time sucker and tramp.  Others call it a stalker’s paradise and a bullies playground. Today, I take another tack.  Today, I am thankful for the online service of Facebook because Mark Z. has done something for our family that no other venue has done.  They recorded a piece of my daughters life

Makenzie – 2.1 Miles Away

I don’t know how many of you have a physical location in which you can say your life changed forever.  As I write,  Google informs me I am 2.1 miles away from mine. Four years ago this evening, Makenzie finished her last pirouette, landed her last leap, and smiled one last time for the camera

Makenzie – Forever 18

I don’t remember where I read it and I don’t remember why.  But somewhere in my scanning of some random article, a mom was talking about her children – of which she bore three.  What caught my attention was how she listed the names and ages of her kids.  “Alex – 22, Molly – 24,

My Makenzie Drift

One of the most difficult experiences for those of us whose kids have died is to relate to our other “earth-walking” kids.  That’s what I’m ‘drifting’ about most recently.  Not that I wish they were like Makenzie or that they acted as the same, but I reactively want to talk to Makenzie about how awesome