Sunday 14 November 2010

Daniel's 21st Angel Anniversary

Yesterday, as well as being the Down's Heart Group's Conference and Dinner / Disco it was Daniel's 21st angel anniversary.  

During the day, one of our patrons, Sarah Boston, was filming to make a documentary DHG can use and between the conference and dinner we went to my hotel room for a quiet spot where they could shoot a session with the Groups founder, Linda Walsh and one with me.  Whilst we were all together we agreed that November is a crappy month as the 20th is Sarah's son, Will's angel anniversary and 21st is Linda's daughter, Katie's angel anniversary.  

Our shared experience gave me strength for the presentation I had to do later in the evening, when I showed the photo montage I made in August in Daniel's memory and said a few words.  It was incredibly hard emotionally, especially after a few other things that happened this week, but somehow I managed to just about keep it together without becoming a blubbering wreck.

Later I was dragged outside by my husband as one of my friends had given him a Chinese sky lantern for us to launch for Daniel.  My youngest son lit and launched it and we stood as a family watching it get further and further away, the light getting smaller and smaller before it finally went out. Then we went back inside and there was a bottle of pink fizz for us to toast Daniel - it was really lovely.

Sarah Boston had stood at a distance watching and when she came back in the hotel, we hugged each other and thought of Linda who had gone by then. We said how lucky we are to have our special angels in our lives, even for such a short time. 

Spending the day with friends and so many people with Down's Syndrome was a truly wonderful way of remembering my angel.  The main part of the day was incredibly busy and the trend of the week for things not to run smoothly continued right up to the end, but with considerable assistance from a few friends and family, I think we managed to just about pull it off.  Whilst it was emotional, I got through the presentation and then we had fun with the youngsters boogieing the night away.

No photos yet as my camera died (I said things went wrong), but I'll try and add some when I get them sent by friends.