6 months ago today......

Six months ago today, our lives changed. A piece of our hearts was removed, never to be replaced again, never to be healed. It hurts, as if there was an actual removal from our bodies....as if we truly had surgery and there was pain except that this pain is much deeper than any pain from a surgery. This pain will never go away. There is a scar, a scar that will not fade or be gone. It will remain on our hearts forever...never to be changed. The pain of losing a child is like no other....we are forever changed. We love and miss Carter more than any words could ever express. With each passing day, the reality becomes more apparent that he is not here with us and the fog is lifted. Reality sets in each morning and yet we are forced to move on and live the day as it is presented to us. And we do it...we do it as best we can for ourselves and for our Sweet Caroline. We have been asked to walk this path and we will do so as best we can. No matter how much time passes, it will never change. We will just learn different coping mechanisms and strive to make Caroline's life as normal as possible. The way it should have been, as if Carter had never been diagnosed with DIPG. We continue to keep his memory alive so that she will never forget him and that the memories of him are as fresh as the day we made them. We pray to our Almighty Lord to assist us in keeping his memories alive in our hearts and Caroline's. Please continue to pray with us...we need the prayers as much today as we did 6-12 months ago.

We have yet again been reminded of how precious life is. Skip's grandfather passed away last Tuesday. We are now in Florida to celebrate his life. We are with family and although we are so very heartbroken for having to be here for this reason, we are thankful for the time we are spending with our family. I have met some of Skip's family that I have never met and yet they have followed Carter's story since Day 1. I am so thankful for the opportunity to meet such marvelous people. I hate that it is under such awful circumstances but at the same time I have learned to treasure every moment...good or bad. Skip and I have had quite a year and a half. I lost my Papa in January 2009, my Grandaddy in September 2009, our sweet Carter-Man in December 2009, and Skip's grandfather now. And we continue to go on..we continue to praise God for all of the blessings and believe it or not, they do exist. Somedays, they are not completely apparent but they are there. Because of family, we were blessed to be able to take Caroline to Sea World yesterday. It was another bittersweet day....we had a wonderful time but the absence of Carter was there and we missed his precious smile and contagious laughter! We know he was there but boy how we wish we could see him and share all of the laughs we had with him! Nontheless, it was fun and Caroline had a blast!

UPDATES

The event at the Fairgrounds was wonderful! It was a thank you event for all of the support we received and also an awareness event to make everyone aware that we are still going strong. For a small event and one that was not intended to raise a large amount of money, we raised almost $1,000. After the cost of the event is deducted, we will be splitting the rest between The Cure Starts Now and Just One More Day. For any future events, we will do the same.

The Carter's Crusaders golf tournament has been rescheduled. It will be held on October 7, 2010. We are also thinking of doing a silent auction, as well. If you are able to help in any way, please let me know. My email is
courtieharris2@gmail.com. If you would like to register for the tournament, please call Chuck Harris at Lee's Hill Golf Tournament at 891-0111 or 408-3611. We need all of the support and these foundations that we donate to are wonderful. They are paving the way to a cure for DIPG. Please visit their sites for more information:

www.thecurestartsnow.org
www.justonemoreday.org


Thank you to everyone for your continued love, support, and prayers!

Love,

Courtney