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I lost my child and myself

Who Am I?
When I lost my son, I lost me too.
We are less than a week away from the six-month point. Soon we will have lived half a year without Xavier, yet it doesn't even seem possible.
Time is not the same when you are grieving. It's like it doesn't even exist. Everyday feels like it was just yesterday we said goodbye. I have lost track of any linear timeframe of events and couldn't tell you what happened a month ago. Time does matter because time to me is only a painful reminder of how long I have lived without and likely have to live before I see my sweet boy again.
I honestly don't know how I have made it this far. To imagine I could endure so much pain for half a year and still survive is a testament to our God and his presence in my life. Without his strength helping me make it through each day, I would not still be here. I am tired of feeling so much pain.
I am losing patience with myself now. Half a year seems like a lot of time, but the pain and tears I shed have not eased since the first day he was gone. In fact, it is more intense. The numbness is gone. I feel like I should be crying less, or feeling more confident in building our new life. But I am not. I still hurt beyond words and have plenty of days where I miss him so much I can't keep it together for more than an hour without sobbing again. I have so much denial. I don't want this life, I don't want to live without him, I don't want to remember him with pictures and I don't want my memories to be all I have. I want to make new memories, I want to see him succeed and to hug and kiss him with each accomplishment. I want to see him and his sister playing ... or even fighting together again.
Just as I wrote that line I got a message from the school as a reminder of Twin Spirit Day tomorrow. My eyes well again... twins - something I was so proud to be -- a mom of twins. Now I feel like that identity has also been taken away from me. I was a mom of twins and now I am not. So much of who I was has gone away with him. I don't know who I am anymore.
Not only was I his mom, but I was his caregiver. This role has also disappeared with him. Although I am still those things to Mackenzie, it is a much different role with her than I had with him. I was nurse mom to him and I loved having such an intimate relationship with him. Of course it was tons of work, but I was incredibly valuable and useful. Whether it was dressing him, helping him move around or administering his tube feeds, I played a vital role in giving him life everyday. Now that role is gone too.
Losing a child is much more than a single loss. It's losing each and every milestone we were supposed to share with him, it's losing a lifetime of memories and learning who he was to become. It's losing your identities, and your roles you played while he was here.
It's losing him and yourself.

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