It didn't once enter my thought process when I dreamed about having a family. In my mind, two sets of grandparents were always part of that equation.
Being a parent without parents never ever crossed my mind.
They should be here.
My son should have two sets of grandparents.
My mother and father should know Lucas.
Lucas should know my mother and father.
He will.
Lucas will know my parents through me and my husband and my sister and anyone else that wants to tell him about what amazing people they were. He'll hear that he reminds us of them in small ways; like a simple expression on his face that looks just like one my mother would make when she was giddy with excitement and big ways, too, like Lucas' insatiable curiosity that was so similar to my father's and how they were taken from all of us too soon.
But it's not the same.
Lucas is missing being able to go to a Red Sox game with my dad, hear first hand about the small town in Texas where he grew up. He is missing learning about stamp collecting, how to make the perfect Orange Julius and the intrigue of film-noir movies.
Lucas is missing holding my mother's soft hands, devouring her scrumptious chocolate chip cookies and celebrating each and every holiday with gusto, as only she knew how.
Lucas is missing out on so much.
But they are missing out too.
I have a beautiful, smart, funny, awesome son and just once, I'd love for my parents to able to hear his magical laughter every time I chase him around the park.
Losing my mother and father at such an early age, mine and theirs respectively, is unfathomable. But, sometimes the universe works in mysterious ways and the unfathomable happens. I lost my parents and less than a year later became pregnant with Lucas. I suffered the greatest loss of my life and then gained light and hope and more joy than I ever thought my heart could hold.
I could never have imagined that my parents would not meet my son or that they wouldn't be here longer than they were, but the way I used to think changed and then the whole world shifted.
If want to know more about how I lost my parents, please read For My Broken Heart.
This post is for The Red Dress Club's writing meme, Red Writing Hood. This weeks prompt was to write a post that begins with the line, "I could never have imagined" and ends with the line, "Then the whole world shifted."
